Naughty Dog confirms its working on a new single-player game in odd apology post

By Giovanni Colantonio May 26, 2023

The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog has confirmed that it’s working on a new single-player game in a fairly odd manner. The news came in the middle of an apologetic post explaining why the studio didn’t show its upcoming Last of Us multiplayer project during this week’s PlayStation Showcase.

pic.twitter.com/DOeO8ZHSlh

— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) May 26, 2023

Naughty Dog teased the project last year during Summer Game Fest, confirming it was early in development. The studio only showed some concept art at the time and hasn’t said much since. While the game was never scheduled to appear during this week’s Sony livestream, fans had anticipated that it may be part of the show. It wasn’t, leading Naughty Dog to address its fans.

Recommended Videos

While the post mostly explains why the reveal (which was never confirmed for the show) didn’t happen, it dropped some surprising information: that it’s also working on a brand new single-player game.

“We’re incredibly proud of the job our studio has done thus far, but as development has continued, we’ve realized what is best for the game is to give it more time,” the studio says. “Our team will continue to work on the project, as well as our other games in development, including a brand new single-player game.”

There’s currently no word on what that game is, but one could logically assume that it might be The Last of Us Part III. The series has become Sony’s tentpole franchise, leading to a popular TV adaptation that’s in need of more material if it’s going to get past season 2. There’s also a chance it could be a new installment of the Uncharted series or something entirely new.

While the transparency on the project is welcome, the post itself is a little strange considering that Naughty Dog never set any expectation that it was showing off its multiplayer game anytime soon. There may be another reason for that apology, though. Bloomberg reports that the developer is currently reassessing the project after scaling it back. Naughty Dog did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment, but the apology came right on the heels of the report’s publication.

Topics

Giovanni Colantonio

Senior Gaming Editor

As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…

Gaming

Naughty Dog confirms The Last of Us Part II Remastered following leak

Key art for The Last of Us Part II Remastered

Naughty Dog officially announced and released the first trailer for a remaster of 2020's critically acclaimed The Last of Us Part II. The developer was forced to announce The Last of Us Remastered Part II Remastered a bit early after it leaked Friday afternoon. Thankfully, the wait for the remaster won't be long, as it's coming to the PlayStation 5 in two months.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered - Announce Trailer | PS5 Games

Gaming

Naughty Dog devs suffer layoffs, reportedly impacting Last of Us multiplayer spinoff

Ellie looking concerned.

A new report revealed that Naughty Dog has ended several contracts it had with developers early, laying off around 25 developers. This had a negative impact on The Last of Us multiplayer game but, more importantly, is chillingly just the latest batch of layoffs in a rough couple of months for the video game industry.
These contracted developers were informed that their contracts were ending prematurely at the end of October and that they'd get no severance afterward, according to the report at Kotaku. Reportedly, most of these layoffs at Naughty Dog, PlayStation's darling studio that employs over 400 developers, come from the quality assurance, art, and production teams. According to Kotaku, Naughty Dog asked its developers to keep quiet about it. That didn't happen, though, with developers telling Kotaku not only about the layoffs but that the multiplayer The Last of Us game "while not completely canceled, is basically on ice at this point."
Concept art for Naughty Dog's Last of Us multiplayer title. Naughty Dog
These layoffs are unfortunate but sadly not uncommon for the game industry. Throughout the last few weeks, studios like Ubisoft, Creative Assembly, Ascendant Studios, and Epic Games have all laid off people. Epic, in particular, cut a whopping 16% of its workforce despite the fact that Fortnite is one of the most popular video games. Then, there are studios like Saints Row's Volition, support studio Puny Human, and Boomerang X's Dang are closing entirely.
Although 2023 has been a year full of fantastic games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Street Fighter 6, and Baldur's Gate 3, it's unfortunate that it has been so rough for the developers who actually make the games in this gigantic industry. It's clear something needs to change.

Gaming

We tasted The Last of Us Part II’s apocalyptic new whisky

A bottle of whiskey inspired by The Last of Us sits on a table.

Just before this year's Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, The Last of Us Part II developer Naughty Dog brought a group of fans, press, and staff to a small bar for a special event to celebrate the franchise's latest release. This wasn't The Last of Us Part I, which came out the next day; instead, they were there to debut a new whisky inspired by Part II called Moth & Wolf.

The event was held at Quinn's Pub in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Its schedule featured a guided tasting of the new whisky, an appearance by Naughty Dog co-president and TLOU co-writer Neil Druckmann, and an acoustic set of six original songs by Troy Baker, the actor who voices Joel. While the whisky was the star of the show, the event itself also served as a somber goodbye for Baker, who officially closed out his time with TLOU.
Taste the apocalypse
Moth & Wolf is the latest product from the Digital Spirits project by Chivas Brothers, which is arguably best-known for its eponymous blended whisky Chivas Regal. Digital Spirits' aim, according to Chivas' Kevin Balmforth, is to "get closer to what fans are passionate about," by making spirits that are influenced by modern forms of entertainment like video games. Balmforth is the master brewer at the distillery that created Moth & Wolf, and describes himself as having been a "big gamer" even before coming aboard the collaboration, which has been nearly two years in the making.