Naughty Dog’s Troubled The Last of Us Multiplayer Spin-Off Reportedly ‘On Ice’ Amid Layoffs

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Naughty Dog has reportedly suffered a round of layoffs, with the troubled The Last of Us multiplayer spin-off said to be “on ice”.

The Sony-owned studio, which is home to some 400 staff, is laying off at least 25 developers, Kotaku said. Most of the people affected are quality assurance (QA) contractors who are seeing their contracts cut short. According to Kotaku, full-time staff are not affected.

Naughty Dog will reportedly not offer severance to laid off staff, who Kotaku said are expected to work until the end of October. According to the site, Naughty Dog staff “are being pressured to keep the news quiet”. IGN has asked Sony for comment.

The Last of Us multiplayer spin-off is, according to Kotaku, “basically on ice”, although is not “completely cancelled”. This tallies with a May report from Bloomberg, which said the “quality and long-term viability” of the much-anticipated The Last of Us multiplayer game had come into question, and as a result a “small group remains on the project while the company reevaluates the direction”.

“We know many of you have been looking forward to hearing more about our The Last of Us multiplayer game,” Naughty Dog said at the time. “We’re incredibly proud of the job our studio has done thus far, but as development has continued, we’ve realized what is best for the game is to give it more time.

“Our team will continue to work on the project, as well as our other games in development, including a brand new single-player experience; we look forward to sharing more soon.

“We’re grateful to our fantastic community for your support —- thank you for your passion for our games, it continues to drive us.”

Naughty Dog’s most recent release was the March launch of the PC port of The Last of Us 1, which was met with mixed reviews over performance issues. The studio has already chosen its next game but is yet to confirm whether it’s The Last of Us Part 3 or something else entirely.

We still don’t know much about The Last of Us multiplayer game, but Naughty Dog did share some concept art earlier this year, saying “the project is shaping up to be a fresh, new experience from our studio, but one rooted in Naughty Dog’s passion for delivering incredible stories, characters, and gameplay”.

Naughty Dog studio co-president Evan Wells announced his retirement after 19 years at the studio, leaving Neil Druckmann to fully take the reins of one of the PlayStation’s best-known studios. Druckmann is currently working on the second season of smash-hit HBO series The Last of Us.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.