Sony's ambitious plan to fill its online gaming portfolio with twelve new titles by the 2025-2026 fiscal year is facing significant internal hurdles. A major setback involves Naughty Dog's new intellectual property, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, which has been delayed due to resource allocation issues. This shift in studio priorities means players will wait longer for a highly anticipated single-player experience. The delay highlights the financial and operational risks associated with developing large-scale multiplayer projects.
Studio staff shifted to canceled multiplayer project
The core of the delay stems from the cancellation of The Last of Us Online, a multiplayer project also known as Factions. According to reporting from Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, the studio spent hundreds of millions of dollars on this canceled title. The development of this multiplayer game consumed the majority of Naughty Dog's staff for a significant period. Consequently, Intergalactic did not receive the bulk of the studio's resources until after the multiplayer project was scrapped.
Jason Schreier noted that there is a misconception that Intergalactic was a side project while the team focused on the multiplayer game. He clarified that the opposite is true, with most of the studio working on The Last of Us Online or remasters. The team only shifted to focus on Intergalactic after the multiplayer initiative was canceled. This resource reallocation has pushed back the development timeline for the new IP.
The cancellation of The Last of Us Online is part of a broader trend at Sony, which has canceled several planned online titles. Sony had originally planned to release twelve online multiplayer games, but several have been dropped or rebooted. For example, the Horizon live-service game Hunters Gathering is reportedly being rebooted after negative feedback. These cancellations suggest a strategic retreat from aggressive online expansion plans.
We looked at the last Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet update, where several of the same balance and stability themes came up. The current reporting confirms that development progress was interrupted by the earlier multiplayer focus. The studio is now redirecting its efforts toward completing the new IP. Players can expect a delay as the team catches up on the lost time.
Source: MP1ST
