[UPDATE] Bloomberg's Jason Schreier published a new report, painting a much bleaker picture of The Last of Us multiplayer game.

　　According to his sources, the project's team has been scaled down following a negative evaluation made by Bungie on the game's ability to keep players engaged over time.

　　Bungie reportedly evaluated various live service games in development at Sony's first-party studios. Sony did say their expertise in the genre was one of the primary reasons behind the studio's acquisition for $3.6 billion.

　　The Last of Us multiplayer game hasn't been canceled, but its direction is being reassessed. It's fair to imagine any potential release date to be relatively far away.

　　[ORIGINAL STORY] Any hopes you migind ht have had to see the standalone The Last of Us multiplayer game being unveiled at Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest 2023 (airing on June 8th at 3 PM Eastern Time) have just been shut down by Naughty Dog.

　　The development studio posted a tweet explaining that while they know how much fans would like to see the game and learn more about it, the best thing for The Last of Us multiplayer game right now is to give it more time in the oven.

　　Naughty Dog said they are still very much proud of what has been done on the project, which will continue to be worked on alongside another brand new single player experience. The latter is likely the new project helmed by The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann, though it's presently unclear whether it is Part II or another IP.

　　The standalone The Last of Us multiplayer game has been anticipated for several years. Fans had expected to see Factions, the multiplayer mode featured in the original game, returning for Part II. However, in September 2019, Naughty Dog revealed the sequel would be a single player only experience.

　　The following day, they clarified their multiplayer plans hadn't been scrapped. On the contrary, the studio's ambitious vision had simply outgrown the scope of a mere side mode, requiring a standalone game instead.

　　At the Summer Game Fest 2022, Neil Druckmann briefly talked of The Last of Us multiplayer game as a project possibly even bigger than the single player installments. He confirmed that it would feature a story, a new cast of characters, and a new setting (another city in the United States).

　　Earlier this year, the series creator once again spoke of the project's massive scope, deeming it the most ambitious game ever made by Naughty Dog. Druckmann then hinted at a co-op focus for The Last of Us multiplayer game.

　　In March, he teased that much more information would be shared later in 2023. However, it seems like plans have changed, and chances to see this much hyped project before next year have gone down considerably after today's news.