The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog has been hit by layoffs, and its TLOU multiplayer project is reportedly “on ice.” A number of now former developers are taking to LinkedIn to look for new opportunities, confirming that they have been let go.
The Last of Us multiplayer is not completely canceled, reports say
Kotaku was the first to report that Naughty Dog has laid off at least 25 developers out of a headcount of 400. Following the report, Twitter user bograd222 found the LinkedIn posts in question confirming the news. Apparently, most of those laid off were employed part-time at Naughty Dog’s quality assurance department.
Unfortunately, Naughty Dog reportedly isn’t offering any severance, and Kotaku’s sources say the impacted employees are being pressured not to talk about the layoffs. Their contracts will end after October.
Reports of The Last of Us multiplayer’s development troubles first emerged in June, following which Naughty Dog confirmed that the game has been delayed. Now, Kotaku reports that although the project isn’t “completely canceled,” it’s basically “on ice.”
This news comes at the heels of a Bloomberg report we shared yesterday in which it was claimed that PlayStation Studios have been struggling to pivot to games-as-a-service pushed under the leadership of outgoing CEO Jim Ryan.
