Former PlayStation exec Shuhei Yoshida played Naughty Dog’s ill-fated The Last of Us Online and said “it was great”.
Factions, as the game became known as, was an online multiplayer spin-off from Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic solo drama, but was cancelled by Sony at the end of 2023 as the studio didn’t want to become a “solely live service games studio”.
Destiny developer Bungie was drafted in to assist during development, but raised concerns about the game’s “ability to keep players engaged for a long period of time”, according to a report at the time.
Yet Yoshida, who recently left PlayStation, was able to play the game before it was cancelled, which he discussed in an interview with Sacred Symbols+ (thanks Push Square) saying he “played the game and it was great”.
“The idea for The Last of Us Online came from Naughty Dog and they really wanted to make it,” said Yoshida. “But Bungie explained [to them] what it takes to make live service games, and Naughty Dog realised, ‘Oops, we can’t do that! If we do it, we can’t make Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.’ So that was a lack of foresight.”
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is Naughty Dog’s next game, a single-player sci-fi hack ‘n’ slash revealed at last year’s The Game Awards.
Yoshida spoke further on live service games at Sony, stating that no first-party studio had been forced into the genre.
“From my experience, when studios see the company has a big initiative, [they realise] riding on that gives them a better chance of getting a project approved and supported,” he explained. “It’s not like [current PS Studios boss Hermen Hulst] is telling teams they need to make live service games, it’s likely mutual.”