After what many thought was a fairly disappointing PlayStation Showcase, questions soon began flying regarding previously announced first-party titles that didn't show up. One of these titles was Naughty Dog's confirmed The Last of Us multiplayer game, a title that's been in development for quite a while. Well, there now seems to be a pretty good reason for the lack of updates, as it's been reported that the development team has been significantly scaled back and the game itself has been indefinitely delayed.
This news first came via an official statement from Naughty Dog, which explains that its needs to give the project "more time" and that the team will continue to keep working on the title as well as a brand new single-player experience. However, a subsequent article from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier paints a much darker picture, as it's being reported that Sony has significantly slowed down the development of its multiplayer game and that many developers are being moved onto other projects.
Bloomberg also states that the game hasn't been cancelled as of yet, rather Naughty Dog and PlayStation are choosing to reevaluate the direction of the title instead. With the news of these troubles and consequent delay, it's difficult to see Naughty Dog releasing a new game any time soon, especially if its new single player experience is still early in development. It takes a long time to make games these days, and Naughty Dog could easily be on development for the next few years.
As for why PlayStation and Naughty Dog have come to this conclusion now after so long in development, Bloomberg claims it has a lot to do with Destiny 2 developer Bungie. Shortly after the developer was acquired, it's claimed that PlaYStation asked those at Bungie to evaluate all of its live service titles currently in development. Bungie apparently came to the conclusion that there wasn't enough in The Last of Us' multiplayer project to keep players engaged, which then prompted the reassessment.
It's a fairly sensible decision to get one of the world's biggest live service developers to weigh in on how The Last of Us's multiplayer game looks, and if a studio as experienced as Bungie thinks something is wrong, then something is probably wrong. Naughty Dog will undoubtedly get the time and help it needs to make its multiplayer project a success, but it's a shame we won't see what Naughty Dog has been working on for a good long while yet. Hopefully, we get a much more positive update in the near future.