The Last of Us' Cancelled Multiplayer Developers Are Creating a New Studio to Develop a Similar Project

Former key developers of the cancelled multiplayer spin-off The Last of Us — game director Vineet Argavaalm and creative director Joe Pettinati — have announced the establishment of a new game studio with offices in Japan and the United States. The 10-person team plans to triple its size and has been working for months on a project that combines Naughty Dog-style cinematic action with multiplayer mechanics.

Argavaalm, who has experience working on Uncharted 4, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and TLoU Part II, describes the upcoming title as a “AAA indie,” focusing on creating the feeling of fighting real opponents instead of AI. Although the studio already has working prototypes, there are no plans to publicly demonstrate it anytime soon.

Sony’s decision to cancel the multiplayer TLoU in late 2023 after the failure of Concord has forced Naughty Dog to focus on single-player games. However, the company's former employees intend to implement their vision of a multiplayer project inspired by the cult franchise.