Highlights
- The Last of Us and Horizon franchises are working on multiplayer spin-offs, but little is known about the projects, and they have been radio-silent for some time.
- Naughty Dog is reportedly struggling to make The Last of Us' multiplayer game viable long-term, leading to further delays.
- The radio silence may indicate that both Naughty Dog and Guerrilla Games are focused on delivering high-quality multiplayer experiences and are striving to lead PlayStation's live-service multiplayer games.
Video game development and how much time it takes for an indie to release as opposed to a AAA title have always been debated. Nowadays, it's viewed as inexplicable if a full AAA first-party game manages to release in under two years. But even though many fans know about these lengthier development periods, there are some titles that can go radio silent for years, and it seems as though The Last of Us and Horizon's multiplayer spin-offs may be heading that way.
As part of PlayStation's oncoming push towards a greater live-service output, The Last of Us and Horizon franchises are both set to receive some kind of multiplayer spin-off each. While not much is known about either project, they've presumably been in development for quite some time. And though both games are in the same boat right now, it's hopefully for the best.
Horizon and The Last of Us' Multiplayer Spin-offs Have Both Gone Radio-Silent
The first rumblings of a standalone Last of Us multiplayer game occurred all the way back in 2019 when Naughty Dog confirmed that The Last of Us Part 2 wouldn't be shipping with a multiplayer mode. Since then, fans have held out hope for some kind of Last of Us multiplayer spin-off, and in 2021 Naughty Dog confirmed that it was working on just a game. At Summer Game Fest 2022, The Last of Us' untitled multiplayer game was officially announced, along with the promise that fans would see more in 2023.
Unfortunately, that promise doesn't look like it's coming true. Back in May, a Bloomberg report claimed that Naughty Dog was putting The Last of Us' multiplayer on pause while the developer reassessed exactly what the game was, and how it would remain viable for the long term. According to the report, Sony had brought in Bungie to figure out how a live-service model would fit the game but was struggling to make it a reality. The same day the report was published, Naughty Dog put up a statement saying that the game needed more time, and The Last of Us' multiplayer title has been radio-silent since.
Guerrilla's Horizon multiplayer spin-off has a bit of a different backstory. Back in December of last year, Guerrilla confirmed the existence of an online game set in Horizon's universe via a job listing. Then back in July, Guerrilla's studio director, Jan-Bart van Beek, stated that the game would be a co-op title. Aside from that, no official information has ever been revealed about Horizon's multiplayer spinoff, and much like The Last of Us, it's gone radio-silent.
Hopefully, though, this radio silence is actually a good thing for both games. Though the Bloomberg report about The Last of Us' multiplayer game paints a pretty bleak picture, the notion that Naughty Dog is still willing to put work and time into the project seems like a positive announcement still, and in this case, no news might actually be good news.
Naughty Dog and Guerrilla Games are hopefully silent on these projects because they're trying to make them as high-quality as possible. If they are going to be leading the charge on PlayStation's new wave of live-service multiplayer games, then they're going to need to knock it out of the park, or the rest of PlayStation's multiplayer plans could be in serious trouble.
The Last of Us' spin-off multiplayer game is in development.