Naughty Dog cancelled the much anticipated Last of Us Online in favor of Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet and The Last of Us Part 2.

intergalactic, the last of us online

Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic is the newest IP from the venerable publisher, who has had a long history of making incredibly popular franchises such as The Last of Us and Crash Bandicoot.

Interestingly, the conception of this project had led to the cancellation of another title in its arguably most popular series – The Last of Us, in the form of The Last of Us Online, a co-op spin-off taking place after the events of the first game.

The Last of Us 2 Online got canned in favor of Intergalactic

Intergalactic
TLOU Online was canned in favor of Intergalactic | Image Credit: Naughty Dog

As per a recent interview from Sacred Symbols+, Naughty Dog canned The Last of Us Online, also known as Last of Us: Factions, in favor of the game now known as Intergalactic. For the uninitiated, Factions was a multiplayer spin off set within the Last of Us franchise.

The game was also likely set before the events of The Last of Us Part II, which was later created instead of Factions. This is different from The Last of Us’s very solid multiplayer mode bundled with the PS3 and PS4 Remastered versions, also known as Factions.

Naughty Dog wanted to further expand on this mode, making it into a standalone game, but it was ultimately cancelled to make Part II happen, and later on, Intergalactic. This was despite the game reportedly having some intriguing concept art and impressive planned segments.

The Last of Us Part 1
Factions was actually in a playable state of sorts | Image Credit: Naughty Dog

The prior PlayStation Studios boss, Shuhei Yoshida, had played through a section of Factions, and called it great, at least in its conceptual form.

However, another PlayStation-associated studio, Bungie, later gave insight to Naughty Dog into the entire breadth, scope, and technicalities involved in such a large-scale project. Naughty Dog ultimately backed out of the whole idea in favor of developing Intergalactic and continuing their single-player-only game streak.

This could perhaps be attributed to a ‘lack’ of foresight on the studio’s behalf, but no studio should really be forced to make something they do not feel comfortable in making – and Sony didn’t pressure Naughty Dog either.

It’s truly unfortunate, and while the industry is not exactly new to canned ideas and entire games, it never gets less painful to have such an intriguing concept shattered.

A Last of Us Online would likely not have stacked up against Intergalactic

The Last of Us Part 2
TLOU Online was canned to make The Last of Us Part 2 | Image Credit: Naughty Dog

While it really sucks that a Last of Us Online never got to see the light of day, realistically it would have never stood a chance against Intergalactic. Naughty Dog’s experience and expertise lies with single-player games, and they made the right call canning Factions – as it would not have worked out in the long run for them.

Furthermore, this would have likely have led to the delay of future projects such as the often controversial Last of Us Part II. What could have perhaps worked would have been Naughty Dog outsourcing the development of TLOU Online to another studio, simply overseeing their work in the process.

While Intergalactic’s success remains up for debate (given that it is nowhere near being completed), it was likely to sell more copies than TLOU Online.

Additionally, keep in mind that TLOU Online would have likely released very late, and as such would have to face a lot more competition, and would have generated a lot less hype and pull compared to TLOU Part II.