Bungie Reportedly Convinced Naughty Dog Not To Focus on Live Service

Expert Verified By

Bungie Helped Naughty Dog Avoid Similar Fate!

Story Highlights
  • Bungie gave Naughty Dog valuable feedback that helped it avoid the live service genre.
  • The cancellation of The Last of Us Multiplayer resulted from that feedback. 
  • Naughty Dog games have had multiplayer elements before, but going all out could’ve been risky.

Naughty Dog is one of the finest studios in the industry, with games like The Last of Us and Uncharted under its belts. While the studio has had its fair share of multiplayer offerings in the past, Bungie warned it not to delve too much into the live service genre.

Why it matters: Naughty Dog was previously developing The Last of Us Multiplayer, which was later shelved. It seems it dodged a bullet with the move, considering the market is becoming saturated and less profitable.

The Last of Us Multiplayer
Bungie was the reason behind the cancellation of The Last of Us Multiplayer.

According to Jason Schreier, Bungie gave Naughty Dog some feedback that turned out to be great, such as not going all in at a live service game. It seems that that feedback resulted in the cancellation of The Last of Us Multiplayer.

While most fans were sad that the game was cancelled, it seems to have been for the best. Naughty Dog does have multiplayer experience, but the market today is quite different, and single-player studios haven’t had the best live service games in recent years.

Some recent examples include Suicide Squad by Rocksteady, Marvel’s Avengers by Crystal Dynamics, and Redfall by Arkane Austin. However, making multiplayer a part of future games rather than an entirely separate release might not hurt.

Last of Us 2 Multiplayer
Naughty Dog hoped to break into live-service gaming.

While multiplayer modes were never the standout parts of past Uncharted games, they were still enjoyable. The original Factions also had a small but dedicated community.

The major problem seems to be that Naughty Dog would have had to dedicate too many resources to the live service project, so Bungie advised against this push. Bungie itself has been struggling recently.

This week, the studio faced major job cuts, and various team members were absorbed into PlayStation studios. As Bungie is a live service studio with plenty of experience from Destinty, its feedback might have been a blessing in disguise.

Was our article helpful? 👨‍💻

Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋

How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔

Gear Up For Latest News

Get exclusive gaming & tech news before it drops. Sign up today!

Join Our Community

Still having issues? Join the Tech4Gamers Forum for expert help and community support!

Latest News

Join Our Community

104,000FansLike
32,122FollowersFollow

Trending

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Wins Game of the Year at Gayming Awards 2025

Dragon Age: The Veilguard has secured Game of The Year as well as two other awards at the Gayming Awards 2025.

GTA 6 Online Aiming To Feature 96 Players Per Server, Report Claims

Rockstar insider Fravilys claims that GTA 6 Online may feature up to 96 players on each server instead of the current 32 limit.

Microsoft Reportedly Killing Xbox One Backward Compatibility With Next-Gen Console

According to an insider, Microsoft is reportedly discontinuing Xbox One backward compatibility with the next-gen console, if it is a PC.

Stalker 2 Heading To PS5 Late 2025; PS5 Pro Enhancements Also Confirmed

Stalker 2 has been officially announced for the PS5 after several months of console exclusivity, with plans to launch the game in Fall 2025.

Ex-Naughty Dog Dev Moving To Japan To Form New Studio After Last of Us Multiplayer Cancelled

Following Last of Us Multiplayer title's cancellation, the game director left Naughty Dog and is moving to Japan to form a new studio.