Naughty Dog drops online mode from The Last of Us Part II to focus on single-player

Naughty Dog has revealed The Last of Us Part II will be a single-player only affair, unlike the original game which shipped with an online mode called Factions. 

It's an interesting development in a world that often sees publishers and developers try and squeeze a multiplayer mode into single-player campaign-focused games. 

Explaining the decision on Twitter, Naughty Dog simply reasoned the sequel's "single-player campaign is far and away the most ambitious project" it has ever undertaken, and that it cut the mode in order to properly support its vision. 

Factions, however, hasn't been scrapped. Instead, Naughty Dog appears to be working on a more expansive version of the online mode that was too ambitious to include with The Last of Us Part II. 

"As development began on the evolution of our Factions mode from The Last of Us Part I, the vision of the team grew beyond an additional mode that could be included with our enormous single player campaign," explained the studio. 

"Wanting to support both visions, we made the difficult choice that The Last of Us Part II would not include an online mode. Rest assured, we are as big a fan of Factions as the rest of our community, and are excited to share more when it's ready." 

Naughty Dog isn't the only big-name studio embracing a single-player focus. Back in April, Titanfall and Apex Legends maker Respawn confirmed its next game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will be a strictly single-player experience, without any sort of online component.