Naughty Dog reportedly spent more than $100 million on the cancelled The Last of Us multiplayer project, which tied up the studio’s resources for years. The entire studio reportedly worked on it for years, potentially slowing progress on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

The standalone The Last of Us multiplayer project was cancelled in 2023 after years in development. In his latest video, Jason Schreier said Naughty Dog had already spent at least $100 million on the game by then; while he did not give a precise final figure, he described the total investment as being in the hundreds of millions.

The amount is striking on its own, but the source notes that it represents at least half of the reported development budget required to ship The Last of Us Part II. Costs also escalated because practically the entire studio worked on the project between 2020 and 2023, meaning it was treated as a full-scale production rather than a secondary multiplayer spin-off.

“Naughty Dog spent a great deal of money, hundreds of millions, working on the project.”

One of the decisive reasons for the cancellation was reportedly the studio’s concern about the burden of long-term content support. A successful live-service The Last of Us could have turned Naughty Dog into a one-game team for years, while the developer still wanted to produce story-driven single-player titles.

The fallout may also cast a shadow over Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Reports suggest that tying up resources for years slowed progress on the new project, while the size of the loss could place even greater expectations on Naughty Dog’s next game.

Source: Tech4Gamers (https://tech4gamers.com/naughty-dog-wasted-hundreds-of-millions-last-of-us-multiplayer/)