Bungie told Naughty Dog not to go all in on a live service game

[ksdixon]

You people hating on TLOU Online are fucking mad. Absolutely mad!

TLOU MP has survived PS3 servers being killed, MP not going into Remake, people having to keep whole entire Remastered game installed as there's no "MP only" install option, and the duct tape job of TLOU2 Horde Mode being added... throughout all that BS the game is still played and MP strong. Most games would KILL for that long of a tail end!

And this is just as a 4v4 low effort MP, not GAAS daily grinds, and not a particularly fleshed out with dlc support for it like extra game modes, custom lobby rulesets, all of the maps and locations from main game, or even one from the DLC or sequel.

TLOU MP was "GAAS" before GAAS.
TLOU Online would have been "the GAAS", at least as far as zombies go. And Sony were bum fuck stupid to not split ND into single player and MP houses. UC/TLOU'S MP/GAAS, just evergreen, not tied into a new game, new console or a media rights timing like film/show release.

Fight me!

 

[Kokoloko]

You people hating on TLOU Online are fucking mad. Absolutely mad!

TLOU MP has survived PS3 servers being killed, MP not going into Remake, people having to keep whole entire Remastered game installed as there's no "MP only" install option, and the duct tape job of TLOU2 Horde Mode being added... throughout all that BS the game is still played and MP strong. Most games would KILL for that long of a tail end!

And this is just as a 4v4 low effort MP, not GAAS daily grinds, and not a particularly fleshed out with dlc support for it like extra game modes, custom lobby rulesets, all of the maps and locations from main game, or even one from the DLC or sequel.

TLOU MP was "GAAS" before GAAS.
TLOU Online would have been "the GAAS", at least as far as zombies go. And Sony were bum fuck stupid to not split ND into single player and MP houses. UC/TLOU'S MP/GAAS, just evergreen, not tied into a new game, new console or a media rights timing like film/show release.

Fight me!

This.
It would of been amazing. A TLOU world, fully playble. PVE, PVP and Story telling. Coop missions. Creating factions, fighting infected, enemy factions.
People get addicted to games like 7days to die, the forest, the division, Destiny etc. ND quality would blow them out the water.

Im just imagining how RDR online was but so much more going on, and the whole TLOU setting

 

[Shmunter]

You people hating on TLOU Online are fucking mad. Absolutely mad!

TLOU MP has survived PS3 servers being killed, MP not going into Remake, people having to keep whole entire Remastered game installed as there's no "MP only" install option, and the duct tape job of TLOU2 Horde Mode being added... throughout all that BS the game is still played and MP strong. Most games would KILL for that long of a tail end!

And this is just as a 4v4 low effort MP, not GAAS daily grinds, and not a particularly fleshed out with dlc support for it like extra game modes, custom lobby rulesets, all of the maps and locations from main game, or even one from the DLC or sequel.

TLOU MP was "GAAS" before GAAS.
TLOU Online would have been "the GAAS", at least as far as zombies go. And Sony were bum fuck stupid to not split ND into single player and MP houses. UC/TLOU'S MP/GAAS, just evergreen, not tied into a new game, new console or a media rights timing like film/show release.

Fight me!

Mate, you're tripping harder than a drunk flamingo! TLOU Online had as much chance of success as a snowball in hell. Sure, the original MP had a solid run, but saying it was 'GAAS before GAAS' is like saying a rotary phone was the iPhone before the iPhone. It’s not even in the same league! You think Sony splitting ND into SP and MP teams would have worked? That's like asking a plumber to do brain surgery—complete chaos!

 

[Kokoloko]

Mate, you're tripping harder than a drunk flamingo! TLOU Online had as much chance of success as a snowball in hell.

I dont know why its so sure it wouldnt work out. Clearly ND make some of the best games ever. They would do 100x the job the divison and destiny could do quality and story telling wise. And PVP and gameplay well above most studios.
The series is pretty popular with gamers and commercial. TLOU setting would be one of the best and suited settings for an online PVE/PVP game.

You think Sony splitting ND into SP and MP teams would have worked? That's like asking a plumber to do brain surgery—complete chaos!

I mean thats what the plan was.
1-2 Sp teams and 1 MP team. Plenty of studios and publishers do this. I dont see the problem. They had like 3 separate teams before making U2, U3, TLOU, U4 etc. Sony just didnt want to expand them enough I do a big MP game.

Like i mentioned before Bungie and Destiny would be fine if they werent making 4 games from the profits of 1 game, Destiny DLC lol. Sony could easily make a MP game and SP game. Just pretend they are separate studios if that helps haha.

I think PS best chances with MP games is to use the IP’s that are most popular. Instead of making just new Ips for it like Destructional allstars, concord and heist thing.
Yeah try some new IP’s but use those IP’s that sell millions already. Or ones that your fanbase love. TLOU, Spiderman, Killzone, GT, Ghost of Tsushima. The engines and gameplay mechanics are mostly done and high quality compared to other games.

Just believe with me bro, its never gonna happen but believe with me

 

[Johnic]

You people hating on TLOU Online are fucking mad. Absolutely mad!

TLOU MP has survived PS3 servers being killed, MP not going into Remake, people having to keep whole entire Remastered game installed as there's no "MP only" install option, and the duct tape job of TLOU2 Horde Mode being added... throughout all that BS the game is still played and MP strong. Most games would KILL for that long of a tail end!

And this is just as a 4v4 low effort MP, not GAAS daily grinds, and not a particularly fleshed out with dlc support for it like extra game modes, custom lobby rulesets, all of the maps and locations from main game, or even one from the DLC or sequel.

TLOU MP was "GAAS" before GAAS.
TLOU Online would have been "the GAAS", at least as far as zombies go. And Sony were bum fuck stupid to not split ND into single player and MP houses. UC/TLOU'S MP/GAAS, just evergreen, not tied into a new game, new console or a media rights timing like film/show release.

Fight me!

This. There are games that area few years old that are already dead. Meanwhile both TLOU and Uncharted 4 MP are still very much alive. TLOU came out over 10 years ago and the servers are still populated. Uncharted came out 8 years ago and sill alive and well.

 

[BroodCorp]

Compared to Uncharted mp, Factions was slightly more methodical. Especially when compared to CoD and the numerous clones it inspired, having a functional mp that wasn't based in run-n-gun made the mode feel special. I still remember the backlash ND received for including a mp in TLOU at all. Those who stuck with it helped build the community from scratch.

RIP Factions 2 hopes/dreams!

 

[Kokoloko]

I could see this being a big world of PVE, survival and PVP. Fantasy world that could of been lol

 

[Danja]

This. There are games that area few years old that are already dead. Meanwhile both TLOU and Uncharted 4 MP are still very much alive. TLOU came out over 10 years ago and the servers are still populated. Uncharted came out 8 years ago and sill alive and well.

Yup! I still play Uncharted 4 multiplayer quite often. Friends are always sending me co-op invites as well.

 

[Johnic]

Yup! I still play Uncharted 4 multiplayer quite often. Friends are always sending me co-op invites as well.

Never managed to complete all those Crushing co-op missions. I always played with randoms, though.

 

[Evilnemesis8]

Sony does this from time to time.

Bend Studio and Naughty Dog Worked On An Unannounced Project

It has been revealed on a LinkedIn profile that Bend Studio and Naughty Dog teamed up on an unannounced project - but what could it have been?

insider-gaming.com

Demon's Souls Remake Dev Bluepoint Games Assisted on God of War Ragnarok

All hands on deck

www.pushsquare.com

I know they do this, but I meant in this specific circumstances, in 2023, where SIE was looking to cut cost.
They weren't going to to try to hold on to employees because their strategy, at the time, was in direct conflict with what they were planning to do.

The games from ND (Uncharted / TLOU) Santa Monica (Gow/Ragnarok) Insomniac(Spiderman1-2) Sucker Punch(GOT) and Bend (Days Gone) have all sold over 10-20+million and selling higher than ever before. Covering well over there development costs. No loss here either.

Edit: First, I want to say that I read your entire post, just that this particular bit is the most conclusive to discussion, the rest is just waxing PS success some more lol.

I absolutely agree, and that's actually a problem, I explain this later down below.

Sony made more profit in PS4 gaming sales than they did the entire PS1/PS2/PS3 days. PS5 has already made more profits PS4 did in its entire generation.
Sony has made well over 19billion in profits from 2013 till now. Not revenue. Profit.

Here's what the execs at Sony are looking at:

Now look at these margins, but also remember all what SIE themselves have done to increase profits in recent years.

-They've increased the cost of the console across the world.
-They've upped the PS+ price.
-They've increased revenue of PS+ through the new Tier system(it's working very well) making users upgrade and pay more on average.
-The PS4/PS5 has the highest MAUs back in Q3/Q4 showing there's the usual YoY userbase increase.
-They've done PC ports, besides the megaflops, those are all profitable because they cost(on average) around 2M~ to make, probably less when Playstation farms them to cheaper porting houses rather than uses somebody like Nixxes.
-They've increased the base price of games to $70
-They're slowing down the discounting of their first party titles(Ragnarok, etc...) leading to higher revenue at a much lesser copies sold. We saw that with the sales leak some time ago with Ragnarok, especially.
Now that the game is at 15M+ since November 2023, it's even higher.
Ragnarok is probably going to end up being the highest revenue generating game that doesn't include MTX(hello GT7).

All of those decisions were made to increase margins, all of those succeeded in their intended goals, and yet the margins are at their lowest they've been in 2023.

Where do they go from there? Increasing the price on PS+ Plus, games or the console is no bueno.
That shit is already expensive, gamers won't tolerate them going full Netflix.

When you're doing record revenue, but your profit margins are falling, this is supremely concerning because if growth slows down at any point, your margins will plummet. The suits know this, they also no that gaming in general isn't seeing astronomical growth from a few years ago anymore, so they have very little confidence that the revenue bar might do better than the profit bar in the next few years.

Hence they've cut costs in an effort to be more profitable.
On this last part, I want to be clear, I'm not looking to debate short term vs long term and the validity of the strategy(we'll be there forever). This is only to demonstrate why the decision was made in the first place and in the same vein why SIE might not want to continue on with the TLoU Online game as well.

 

[ksdixon]

Mate, you're tripping harder than a drunk flamingo! TLOU Online had as much chance of success as a snowball in hell. Sure, the original MP had a solid run, but saying it was 'GAAS before GAAS' is like saying a rotary phone was the iPhone before the iPhone. It’s not even in the same league! You think Sony splitting ND into SP and MP teams would have worked? That's like asking a plumber to do brain surgery—complete chaos!

Nah come on, if TLOU Online dumped you into a base camp where you could manage crap, then select the supply run/survivor/interrogation missions or venture out into the overworld like State Of Decay, and go to specific mission sites like so Division, upgrade bikes like Days Gone and discover a new infected in TLOU, the Horde from whatever area Days Gone was set has migrated lol. The Day After or whatever it was called being number 1 on steam wishlist proves the theory. Sony are just simply, as usual, gun shy little bitches.

They even have the TV show to promote still. I can't believe the games not coming out anymore.

But even going back to the idea of "Factions 1" they could have had years of State Of Play "and here's a new map/mode/weapon/clothing/taunt/perk/skill... Available now!".