Tidligere på året kunne Jason Schreier rapportere, at efter en intern evaluering af Bungie og Sony-ledelse, så blev udviklingen af The Last of Us Multiplayer skaleret en del tilbage, og det lader til at studiet i dag fokuserer på andre projekter.
Nu kan Kotaku dog følge lidt op, og ligesom mange andre studier og udgivere, så lader det til at Naughty Dog står til at gennemføre en fyringsrunde. Ifølge rapporten er der tale om cirka 25 stillinger der nedlægges, men ingen af disse er fastansatte, men snarere "contractors".
"Layoffs were communicated internally at the Santa Monica, California-based studio last week, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Departments ranging from art to production were impacted, but the majority of those laid off worked in quality assurance testing. The sources said at least 25 developers were part of the downsizing. Full-time staff do not appear to have been part of the cuts. Naughty Dog's headcount was over 400 as of July."
Angiveligt forsøger studiets ledelse at give ansatte mundkurv på, og ønsker ikke at det skal slippe ud af der er foretaget fyringer.
"Sources tell Kotaku that no severance is being offered for those currently laid off, and that impacted developers as well as remaining employees are being pressured to keep the news quiet. Their contracts won't be officially terminated until the end of October and they'll be expected to work through the rest of the month. Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment."
Til sidst fremgår det også af artiklen, at selvom at spillet ikke er "completely cancelled", så er det "basically on ice at this point."