Naughty Dog Quietly Cancels Unannounced Single-Player Game For Another Project

A new report says that Naughty Dog, the studio in Santa Monica that made The Last of Us and Uncharted, quietly canceled a single-player game that wasn't announced earlier this year. An Insider says that the now-canceled project had been in the works for more than a year after Naughty Dog's big multiplayer project, The Last of Us Online, was shut down. 

In the end, that game wasn't made because the studio didn't want to switch its focus to live service development, which was not something it planned to do in the long term. Vinit Agarwal was in charge of the project in the last few months of making The Last of Us Online. He had been a game designer on Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and The Last of Us Part II.

After the multiplayer game was canceled, Agarwal took over as lead of the new single-player project, which was also canceled when it was in its early stages. Since then, Agarwal has left Naughty Dog. One unannounced project was put on hold, but work is still being done on another. The insider says that this last title has been in the works for more than three years and is said to be further along in the production process. 

Shaun Escayg is leading the project. He returned to Naughty Dog in April 2021 after briefly heading Marvel's Avengers at Crystal Dynamics. Escayg has worked for Naughty Dog for a long time. He was the lead cinematic animator on The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and the game director for Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.

Reports based on insider information should always be taken with a grain of salt. The insider has a mixed history with leaks, but since Naughty Dog hasn't issued any official updates, these hints are all the public has about the studio's mysterious development process.

Now, what does that mean for Naughty Dog? People on the internet say that there were three single-player projects in the works at one time: the now-canceled game led by Agarwal, another project called Intergalactic, and the three-year-old project currently being overseen by Escayg. Since the project was still in its early stages, it probably never appeared publicly. However, the sudden end of the project and the departure of its director make people wonder what Naughty Dog had in mind.

Even though Escayg's game is still being worked on, people are already guessing what it might be. Though it probably won't be part of The Last of Us, fans will be keeping an eye out for future announcements because of how people are talking about it.

Until then, it's still unclear what will happen with Naughty Dog's future catalog.