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[IbizaPocholo]

An Update on Uncharted and The Last of Us Multiplayer on PS3 || Naughty Dog

After nearly 10 years of operation, Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3, and The Last of Us multiplayer servers for PS3 are going offline.

www.naughtydog.com

After nearly 10 years of operation, on Tuesday, September 3, 2019 [5:00 PM PT] we will be bidding farewell to the multiplayer servers for Naughty Dog games on the PlayStation 3, including Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, The Last of Us, and The Last of Us Left Behind. It’s bittersweet to say the least. Uncharted and The Last of Us multiplayer on the PS3 are defining entries in Naughty Dog’s history and we’ve been honored to support the passionate communities that have grown around them for almost a decade. We have so many fond memories from playing alongside you throughout the years.

However, we wanted to make sure we gave multiplayer on PS3 a proper send-off. From now until September 3, 2019 [5:00 PM PT] all multiplayer services will remain intact and we’re making all multiplayer DLC for Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3, and The Last of Us on PS3 totally free. Just fire up PlayStation Store and look for our new free Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3, and The Last of Us multiplayer DLC bundles, which include all gameplay and vanity items. Whether you’re an active player or want to play a few rounds for old time’s sake, there’s never been a better time to experience the full breadth of Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3, The Last of Us, and The Last of Us Left Behind multiplayer on PS3.

 

[brap]

Damn... on my fucking birthday too. Used to play Uncharted 2 & 3 multiplayer all the time. Guess I'll bust out my PS3 again.

 

[Dante83]

I am surprised the servers were still up as those games didn't get played that much and got dropped fast even after 1 month from their respective releases.

 

[GametimeUK]

Didn't this game have a problem with the DLC not working on digital versions?

 

[brap]

I am surprised the servers were still up as those games didn't get played that much and got dropped fast even after 1 month from their respective releases.

Literally untrue. People were playing for years after.

 

[sublimit]

I actually thought the servers had closed a long time ago.When i replayed Uncharted1-3 on PS3 2 years ago (and Golden Abyss on Vita) i tried to see if the servers were still up and neither U2 or U3 MP modes were working.

If i remember correctly i had played a bit the open beta multiplayer for U2 before the game was released and i was shocked at how beautiful the graphics were. Made me very excited for the actual game (also because i enjoyed U1) even though i wasn't interested to play the multiplayer in the game. Never even tried the MP in U3.

 

[ksdixon]

Literally untrue. People were playing for years after.

That's true. I think I played TLOU and TLOU remastered on ps4 after that's release, every day for about 5 years. Fantastic multiplayer.

 

[brap]

That's true. I think I played TLOU and TLOU remastered on ps4 after that's release, every day for about 5 years. Fantastic multiplayer.

I played U2 and U3 on and off until late 2016 and there were still people playing. Really surprised me.

 

[RiccochetJ]

Makes sense. I wouldn't be surprised if there were months where they had zero people playing. Hard to justify paying to keep that sort of thing going indefinitely. It would be cool if they figured out how to let the community host servers if they wanted to though.

 

[Negotiator]

There are still lots of people (trophy boosters) playing Uncharted 2 & 3 MP with DLC maps on.

 

[brap]

There are still lots of people (trophy boosters) playing Uncharted 2 & 3 MP with DLC maps on.

I should really hook my PS3 back up.

 

[Negotiator]

I should really hook my PS3 back up.

You definitely should!

You'll find lots of easy prey in Deathmatch and Plunder (DLC on, not Default).

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

I should really hook my PS3 back up.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

These games came out 7-10 years ago. Servers shutting off. Sounds about right.

 

[Negotiator]

These games came out 7-10 years ago. Servers shutting off. Sounds about right.

I'd agree if Sony gave us a 60 fps PS4 remaster (like they did with TLOU MP)...

 

[93xfan]

These games came out 7-10 years ago. Servers shutting off. Sounds about right.

Yeah, this is one I can probably agree on.

 

[Dr. Claus]

Tried playing some Last of Us MP the past few days and I couldn't find a single match, even with DLC. Even trying during peak play times, I can't seem to find a group. Rather disappointing as I really enjoyed the MP for TLoU back in the day.

 

[HaveButOneLife]

So then add Uncharted 2 and 3 MP to The Nathan Drake Collection. Of course they won't, though, because gaming business is pretty incompetent. Fans support your post-launch game for 8 years despite omitting those modes for a decent re-release of the game and "they dare have the audacity" to say that they're entitled to getting it in a free update.

Heck I'd pay for them.

 

[brap]

Tried playing some Last of Us MP the past few days and I couldn't find a single match, even with DLC. Even trying during peak play times, I can't seem to find a group. Rather disappointing as I really enjoyed the MP for TLoU back in the day.

I was supposed to be part of a group to grind for TLOU MP trophies and the dude organizing it bailed. Guess he couldn't get a whole 10 people for a game.

So then add Uncharted 2 and 3 MP to The Nathan Drake Collection. Of course they won't, though, because gaming business is pretty incompetent. Fans support your post-launch game for 8 years despite omitting those modes for a decent re-release of the game and "they dare have the audacity" to say that they're entitled to getting it in a free update.

Heck I'd pay for them.

Yeah, me too. UC4 mp fucking sucks.

 

[ntropy]

unreal tournament 1999 servers are still chuggin along
what's the oldest online service?

 

[Paasei]

Uncharted 2 was always a blas to play online. One of the very few games I did play online on my PS3, even not having that much interest in online play on a console.

unreal tournament 1999 servers are still chuggin along
what's the oldest online service?

Probably some text based game like BatMUD or something similar. Most of those games remain playable because of people volunteering to keep the servers running.

 

[Negotiator]

Tried playing some Last of Us MP the past few days and I couldn't find a single match, even with DLC. Even trying during peak play times, I can't seem to find a group. Rather disappointing as I really enjoyed the MP for TLoU back in the day.

PS3 or PS4 version?

 

[sublimit]

I tried the multiplayer in both U2 and U3 online tests but i didn't have fun. People were one-shoting me left and right and i couldn't even figure out by whom or from where. I don't think i touched the MP in the actual games.

 

[Mista]

I tried the multiplayer in both U2 and U3 online tests but i didn't have fun. People were one-shoting me left and right and i couldn't even figure out by whom or from where. I don't think i touched the MP in the actual games.

They're garbage. TLoU had the best MP among them

 

[Gamernyc78]

I am surprised the servers were still up as those games didn't get played that much and got dropped fast even after 1 month from their respective releases.

Who told you tht lie? As an avid mp player (the best tps mp imo) I played each mp for at least a year straight daily and Uncharted 2/3 mp akways had tons of ppl..

 

[Negotiator]

I tried the multiplayer in both U2 and U3 online tests but i didn't have fun. People were one-shoting me left and right and i couldn't even figure out by whom or from where. I don't think i touched the MP in the actual games.

What do you mean? All these games have a kill camera to see who killed you and from where.

 

[sublimit]

What do you mean? All these games have a kill camera to see who killed you and from where.

I don't know if they fixed that in the final version of the MP but i remember specifically in the U2 multiplayer test (before the game came out) i was being one shoted by people who had some kind of buffed weapons and i couldn't even figure out who killed me or from where. One moment i was running and the other i was shot and then the timer for respawn was starting. It was annoying as hell. The map was the snowy temple area where you first meet a Shambala Guardian in the main game. It was my first time i tried playing a MP game (other than fighting games) and i still remember it very vividly.
I don't remember if in the U3 MP beta test (the chateou map) the camera was showing who killed me but i remember i was still being one-shoted.

 

[Fox Mulder]

PS3 or PS4 version?

Certainly PS3. I got the platinum in TLoU PS4 a few months ago and never had a problem finding full matches. It takes like 20+ hours to finish both MP campaigns too.

I never got into Uncharted online, but the powers seemed like a neat thing.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Tried playing some Last of Us MP the past few days and I couldn't find a single match, even with DLC. Even trying during peak play times, I can't seem to find a group. Rather disappointing as I really enjoyed the MP for TLoU back in the day.

PS3 or PS4?

Everyone migrated over to the PS4 version for that silky smooth 60FPS.

 

[NickFire]

Based on the age of the games and the PS5 launching within 15 months (give or take), this seems like a very balanced decision towards players and people paying for servers. The only constructive criticism I would offer is maybe give people a little longer of a heads up in the future.

 

[Deleted member 740922]

What is the cost of keeping a server running? Any ideas? (I have honestly no idea)

 

[Fbh]

Makes sense and I doubt a whole lot of people are still playing those games anyway.
Sucks for Uncharted but at least TLOU online will live on (for now) on Ps4, that MP was surprisingly awesome

 

[Negotiator]

PS3 or PS4?

Everyone migrated over to the PS4 version for that silky smooth 60FPS.

Exactly. That's why I'm not gonna miss the PS3 version of TLOU MP. Haven't played it since 2014.

Uncharted 2 & 3 MP will be sorely missed, though!

I genuinely don't understand why Sony this gen doesn't care about exclusive MP experiences.

Uncharted 3 MP was the "Fortnite" of the PS3 era, believe it or not:

Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Goes Free-to-Play! || Naughty Dog

The secret is out. Uncharted 3 Multiplayer is now Free-to-Play. Download it today!

www.naughtydog.com

UNCHARTED 3 Multiplayer Beta Concludes, Is Largest PS3 Beta Ever

Sadly, the UNCHARTED 3 Multiplayer Beta came to an end earlier today, racking up over 1.53 MILLION unique players participating! This makes UNCHARTED 3 the LARGEST online beta to appear on the PS3. I cannot describe how awesome everyone in the Naughty Dog studio feels about hitting this...

blog.us.playstation.com

Even if people only care about SP experiences, don't they care about Sony making even more money to fund even more AAA SP games?

Getting 30% royalties from Fortnite V-Bucks is not the same thing as getting 100% from UC3 F2P MTX. 100% > 30%.

I don't understand why they left money on the table.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Exactly. That's why I'm not gonna miss the PS3 version of TLOU MP. Haven't played it since 2014.

Uncharted 2 & 3 MP will be sorely missed, though!

I genuinely don't understand why Sony this gen doesn't care about exclusive MP experiences.

Uncharted 3 MP was the "Fortnite" of the PS3 era, believe it or not:

Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Goes Free-to-Play! || Naughty Dog

The secret is out. Uncharted 3 Multiplayer is now Free-to-Play. Download it today!

www.naughtydog.com

UNCHARTED 3 Multiplayer Beta Concludes, Is Largest PS3 Beta Ever

Sadly, the UNCHARTED 3 Multiplayer Beta came to an end earlier today, racking up over 1.53 MILLION unique players participating! This makes UNCHARTED 3 the LARGEST online beta to appear on the PS3. I cannot describe how awesome everyone in the Naughty Dog studio feels about hitting this...

blog.us.playstation.com

Even if people only care about SP experiences, don't they care about Sony making even more money to fund even more AAA SP games?

Getting 30% royalties from Fortnite V-Bucks is not the same things as getting 100% from UC3 F2P MTX. 100% > 30%.

I don't understand why they left money on the table.

They did mention they were going to invest more into multiplayer experiences next-gen in recent interviews, along with their single player staple. So I guess we wait and see what they announce with and after the PS5 launch.

 

[Negotiator]

What is the cost of keeping a server running? Any ideas? (I have honestly no idea)

Must be minimal, since it's basically a matchmaking server (not a lot of traffic):

AWS Case Study: Naughty Dog

Naughty Dog is the developer of the Uncharted game franchise, in addition to other notable titles for the Sony PlayStation family of consoles. The company hosts online game components, including multiplayer functionality, with Amazon S3, Amazon EC2, and Amazon CloudFront. This service stack...

aws.amazon.com

Based on the age of the games and the PS5 launching within 15 months (give or take), this seems like a very balanced decision towards players and people paying for servers. The only constructive criticism I would offer is maybe give people a little longer of a heads up in the future.

How about making a 120 fps PS5 remaster utilizing Azure dedicated servers? That's the best constructive criticism I can offer to Sony (assuming they're willing to take it...)

 

[HaveButOneLife]

They're garbage. TLoU had the best MP among them

TLOU is the most rewarding but also the most boring out of the 4 online ND games. Camper and sweat haven.

 

[SGRU]

That makes it impossible to platinum those games, right?

 

[zeorhymer]

Dang, 10 years. How time flies.

 

[SALMORE]

Good thing that I got the online trophies in Uncharted 3

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

I genuinely don't understand why Sony this gen doesn't care about exclusive MP experiences.

Uncharted 3 MP was the "Fortnite" of the PS3 era, believe it or not:

Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Goes Free-to-Play! || Naughty Dog

The secret is out. Uncharted 3 Multiplayer is now Free-to-Play. Download it today!

www.naughtydog.com

UNCHARTED 3 Multiplayer Beta Concludes, Is Largest PS3 Beta Ever

Sadly, the UNCHARTED 3 Multiplayer Beta came to an end earlier today, racking up over 1.53 MILLION unique players participating! This makes UNCHARTED 3 the LARGEST online beta to appear on the PS3. I cannot describe how awesome everyone in the Naughty Dog studio feels about hitting this...

blog.us.playstation.com

Even if people only care about SP experiences, don't they care about Sony making even more money to fund even more AAA SP games?

Getting 30% royalties from Fortnite V-Bucks is not the same thing as getting 100% from UC3 F2P MTX. 100% > 30%.

I don't understand why they left money on the table.

Sony did not leave any money on the table. Sony know as the platform holder, their goal is not short term profits, but long term health of the game library.
Sony has no reason to try to compete with Fortnite on their home turf, when they are already being paid by Fortnite. They instead focus their resources on what Third Parties are not making. Thus, PS4 has everything that every gamer might want. No one would like every game, but there is a game for any single individual.

Microsoft, of course, is doing what you are suggesting in cannabalising and competing with third parties. Making the same types of games that are already done better by third parties on their own platform. I think the results speak for themselves.

 

[Dr. Claus]

That makes it impossible to platinum those games, right?

Yes. Thankfully you shouldn't have too much of an issue with Uncharted 2 or 3 as all you need to do for the plat is play a single online competitive and co-op match respectively. The Last of Us required you to complete two "campaigns" in the multiplayer which could take anywhere between 20 hours to 50 hours depending on your skill level and if you let your camp die late in the weeks.

 

[Negotiator]

Sony did not leave any money on the table. Sony know as the platform holder, their goal is not short term profits, but long term health of the game library.
Sony has no reason to try to compete with Fortnite on their home turf, when they are already being paid by Fortnite. They instead focus their resources on what Third Parties are not making. Thus, PS4 has everything that every gamer might want. No one would like every game, but there is a game for any single individual.

Microsoft, of course, is doing what you are suggesting in cannabalising and competing with third parties. Making the same types of games that are already done better by third parties on their own platform. I think the results speak for themselves.

I respectfully disagree, since I enjoyed the PS3 era more than the PS4 one.

I understand that the PS4 is the replacement of XBOX 360 this gen, but what if the PS5 isn't the go-to console for 3rd parties? Have you ever thought of that?

Sony needs to have a plan B instead of alienating their loyal fanbase. Yes, they stole lots of (former) XBOX 360 gamers, but Uncharted 2/3 MP gamers have nowhere to go (UC4 MP flopped hard). Why alienate them?

They now have Azure and PS5 will support up to 120 fps. It's a perfect opportunity to revive exclusive 7th gen era games like Uncharted, Warhawk, PSASBR, Twisted Metal etc. Fortnite won't be here forever to boost PSN profits.

 

[PSlayer]

That makes it impossible to platinum those games, right?

I platinum'd uncharted 2 without MP trophies. Not sure about U3 tho.

 

[brap]

I platinum'd uncharted 2 without MP trophies. Not sure about U3 tho.

No you didn't.

 

[PSlayer]

No you didn't.

I'm pretty sure there is a lot of mp trophies missing in my list(I won't share it because it has my name on it)

 

[brap]

I'm pretty sure there is a lot of mp trophies missing in my list(I won't share it because it has my name on it)

There's 2 trophies in U2 for online. Complete one co-op game and one competitive game. The rest is DLC. You can't get the plat without those 2.

 

[PSlayer]

There's 2 trophies in U2 for online. Complete one co-op game and one competitive game. The rest is DLC. You can't get the plat without those 2.

Oh I see,my mistake then. I probably played a couple of matches back then and completely forgot about it.

 

[EverydayBeast]

I love how gamers expect these servers to stay alive forever.

 

[Dr. Claus]

I love how gamers expect these servers to stay alive forever.

You say this as if you are not a gamer.

 

[Negotiator]

I love how gamers expect these servers to stay alive forever.

They could re-release these games as remasters, so why not?

Blizzard did it with WoW Classic, even though everyone thought it would never happen.

Besides, ND has something from Amazon that covers all their needs:

AWS Case Study: Naughty Dog

Naughty Dog is the developer of the Uncharted game franchise, in addition to other notable titles for the Sony PlayStation family of consoles. The company hosts online game components, including multiplayer functionality, with Amazon S3, Amazon EC2, and Amazon CloudFront. This service stack...

aws.amazon.com

Over time, all console games experience a decline in player activity. As usage drops, Naughty Dog can simply scale down individual servers and storage instances related to specific games. This ensures the highest level of cost effectiveness, helping them to save approximately 90 percent versus their on-premise IT service.

But Uncharted 3 and its AWS-based online features are still riding a wave of popularity. The game has received many rave reviews, nominations, and awards from within the gaming industry and mainstream publications, including a 92 percent positive rating from Metracritic.

Christophe Balestra notes, “With AWS, we have tremendous flexibility, and we never get into a situation where there is something we can’t do.”

UC3 MP is still popular due to having a F2P client. It's fine to decommission the old 720p 30 fps version, as long as you offer an alternative (even if it's a paid one, although F2P is the way to go these days).