Which might explain the reaction to its confirmation for the game on Monday.

Soon after Naughty Dog community strategist Arne Meyer revealed The Last of Us’s competitive multiplayer plans in a pre-order-details post on the PlayStation blog, the website’s commentariat seemed split: Some praised the idea, or at the very least were intrigued; others, however, accused Naughty Dog of “tacking it on” or misappropriating precious development resources that could have been used for single-player.

Where some developer representatives might have chosen to ignore such backlash, Meyer was quick to defend Naughty Dog – and The Last of Us’s multiplayer – as the grievances began to grow:

Responding to another commenter:

Considering that reports of The Last of Us’s multiplayer (or at least some version of an online component) date back to February of earlier this year, the “tacked-on” stigma, we have to agree, hardly seems to apply. It’s also encouraging that The Last of Us’s single-player staff won’t be overburdened or distracted by any overlapping demands (ditto the multiplayer team). But what about the intentions of developing the mode in the first place?

Responding to the idea that multiplayer was a marketing concession, Meyer says that Naughty Dog only develops what it truly believe in:

Justifying multiplayer has been a challenge for many story-centric or traditionally single-player-only games as online functionality becomes more pervasive. Mass Effect 3 learned this recently. As did Naughty Dog’s very own Uncharted series when multiplayer was introduced to Uncharted 2. But, speaking of Naughty Dog’s online pedigree, the multiplayer component of 2011’s Uncharted 3 (read our review) marked a vast improvement over its predecessor mainly because the developer devoted substantial time and effort towards it. Should The Last of Us follow the same trend – Meyer seems to be claiming that it is – fans may well develop an affinity for both sides of the game when it releases this May.

Do you think that multiplayer belongs in The Last of Us? Does Naughty Dog have the best intentions with developing it – and can it possibly reach the high bar many are anticipating the campaign will set?

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The Last of Us releases on May 7th, 2013, exclusively for the PlayStation 3

Follow Brian on Twitter @Brian_Sipple.

Source: Official PlayStation Blog