Game director Vinit Agarwal was working on The Last Of Us Online multiplayer before it was canceled in December 2023. He left developer Naughty Dog earlier this year, and on Tuesday 8 July announced on social media that he’s launching a new game studio in Japan.
“Couple of life updates: Moving to Japan tomorrow,” he wrote on X. “Also forming a game studio—more on that soon!” Agarwal was previously with the Sony PlayStation studio for a decade working on Uncharted, The Last of Us, and eventually the canceled live-service project The Last of Us Online. It’s not yet clear if his new game will be multiplayer or affiliated with Sony in any way.
“Today’s my last day Naughty Dog,” he wrote back in January of this year. “Grateful for my decade there, but I’ve decided to pursue a new adventure, to make something of my own. Excited to share more eventually! I’ve learned an incredible amount from my brilliant colleagues at ND, and through the mentorship of many, including Robert Cogburn, Erin Daly, Bruce Straley, Neil Druckmann and Evan Wells. It has been a life defining experience that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my career. Here’s to the next chapter.”
Of the five Naughty Dog veterans mentioned, only Druckmann now remains, becoming the single head of the studio after co-president Evan Wells departed in 2023 (Daly left late last year to join Meta). The studio is currently working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, with Druckmann recently announcing he won’t be working on season three of HBO’s The Last of Us TV show adaptation to focus on the project. At least one other game is also currently in development at Naughty Dog, with some speculating it might be a return to the Uncharted universe.
It sounded like The Last Of Us Online was shaping up to be another big game from the studio, but it was canceled in December 2023, with Naughty Dog writing in a statement that it had made the decision to focus its efforts solely on single-player games once it had become clear “we’d have to put all our studio resources behind supporting post launch content for years to come.” In addition to Agarwal, the project was also led by Joe Pettinati, who also left Naughty Dog earlier this year, and Anthony Newman, who remains head of production at the studio.
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