The Last of Us Online was "the best multiplayer game" many Naughty Dog devs had "ever played," ex game director says

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A dev behind the canceled The Last of Us Online game says it was the best multiplayer game he had ever played, and he strives to never let a project die again.

The director of The Last of Us Online – which was originally going to be a part of The Last of Us Part 2 as Factions mode – Vinit Agarwal recently took to Twitter (spotted by PC Gamer), saying that "it's wild how many of my ex-colleagues still message me today saying how amazing TLOU Online was going to be," and that they think it's "still the best multiplayer game they've ever played." Back when the game was canceled, one dev called it "the highlight of my career."

It’s wild how many of my ex-colleagues still message me today saying how amazing TLOU Online was going to be — still the best multiplayer game they’ve ever played. Never going to let what I work on not see the light of day again. Thank you all for your support and confidence! ❤️April 25, 2026

Of course, like we've heard many times in recent years with Sony-backed live service titles, The Last of Us Online was eventually canceled – with Agarwal previously saying it was about 80% complete in a recent interview – however, he pledges in the tweet that he is "never going to let what I work on not see the light of day again."

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Frankly, even if "best multiplayer game ever" could be seen as a bit hyperbolic, I could believe The Last of Us Online was a banger. For all its faults, The Last of Us Part 2 had great gameplay, and for a studio that has pivoted so hard into single-player cinematic-focused titles, Naughty Dog was shockingly good as a multiplayer dev. The multiplayer mode in Uncharted 2 was an absolute banger in an era where every game had a tacked on multiplayer addition, and The Last of Us 1's multiplayer mode was a tense and fantastic time. That's not to mention that Crash Team Racing is probably the studio's best game ever.

The Last of Us Part 2's major death "was controversial internally too," says former Naughty Dog dev: "The studio was pretty split."

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Scott McCraeContributor

Scott has been freelancing for over three years across a number of different gaming publications, first appearing on GamesRadar+ in 2024. He has also written for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, VG247, Play, TechRadar, and others. He's typically rambling about Metal Gear Solid, God Hand, or any other PS2-era titles that rarely (if ever) get sequels.

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