‘80% complete’: Former Director Reveals The Last of Us Multiplayer Was Cancelled Near Finish Line

The Last of Us multiplayer game was approximately 80 percent complete when Sony cancelled the project, according to former director Vinit Agarwal. Agarwal revealed the decision was made days before public announcement, describing it as “soul crushing” after a seven-year development effort.

Vinit Agarwal, former director of the cancelled The Last of Us multiplayer project at Naughty Dog, has confirmed the online game’s development was “80 percent” finished at the time of its cancellation. This revelation came in an interview on Lance E. Lee’s LelPodcast, where Agarwal detailed the game’s demise and the broader shifts in the video game industry during the COVID-19 era.

The Inside Story: Project Was “Doing Really, Really Well Internally”

According to Agarwal, Sony made a significant investment in live-service and online titles during the pandemic, fuelling the growth of projects like The Last of Us multiplayer. Agarwal explained: “Sony put a lot of money into Online games including The Last of Us multiplayer… [it was] doing really, really well internally, and the team developed it to 80 percent completion.”

Despite this progress, the project became unsustainable as pandemic-driven player engagement declined. Agarwal said, “All the forces that pushed the games industry in 2020 were the reasons it started declining in 2022 – 2023. As people returned to the office, spending reduced. All the money that went into the industry was not able to sustain. Because money was being pulled out, they had to also collapse the spending. It collapsed, basically. Overzealous.”

The decision to cancel The Last of Us multiplayer was ultimately about priorities. Naughty Dog had to choose between continuing this online project or focusing on a new mainline game helmed by studio president Neil Druckmann. Agarwal stated: “A decision had to be made. Make this game, or make this next game that Neil Druckmann was directing, the president of the company. So, kind of naturally, you can understand what happened there. They had to pick the game which was the sole bread-and-butter of the studio, rather than this experimental game I was working on. I believe it was going to be really big, but unfortunately couldn’t see the light of day.”

“Soul Crushing” End After Seven Years: Direct Testimony

Agarwal recounted the emotional impact: “It was soul crushing. To find out it was getting cancelled 24 hours before [the cancellation] was announced to the public, that’s how I found out the game was being cancelled. It was just unfortunate and they had to do that because they have to control the messaging.” In terms of personal toll, Agarwal compared the experience to being let go, stating, “It was 10 times more.”

According to post-cancellation reports cited by Agarwal, the move had a wider internal impact, with “Heads rolling at Sony for that one.”

At the time of cancellation, Agarwal had spent seven years on the project. He described the experience as a “devastating moment.”

Naughty Dog is now focused on “Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet”, described by Neil Druckmann as the studio’s “most expansive and expensive game.” Druckmann has also confirmed the studio is developing another title in parallel, though its details remain undisclosed.

• Project Status at Cancellation: 80% complete
• Director: Vinit Agarwal
• Development Duration: 7 years
• Key Decision: Prioritise Druckmann’s main game over the multiplayer project
• Next Naughty Dog Titles: Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet (most expansive/expensive); unnamed additional project

Naughty Dog’s move marks a significant shift away from live-service multiplayer and back to narrative-driven games. Because of these internal changes, the cancelled project, once thought to be a potential industry hit, may never be revived.