I think people are likely overestimating the amount of work put into the game to be honest. I mean, its not like Scalebound where multiple trailers exist, and the plain fact is that nothing was ever really explicitly promised.
Yes they said the Factions mode for TLOU2 was unable to be packaged in due to the single-player project due to time and scope and would be released as a standalone down the line, yes vague pronouncements were made on how this was going to be some sort of unique "cinematic" multiplayer experience, but beyond that... nothing. No trailers, no leaked footage for the revamped version, not even any leaked screenshots showing GaaS-style restructuring !
That doesn't sound to me like they were very far along at all.
Also, here's the thing: If you have an internal review -like they did using the Bungie guys- to evaluate ongoing projects, they aren't going to come back with recommendations like "kill the project" no matter how bad it plays, or how flawed its monetization is. What they will give as feedback is a list of things to change to get back on track. This of course translates into a time/cost calculation for production to weigh up.
As a first-party studio part of that calculation is how it fits into the overall portfolio, so frankly a big reason for the decision to put it on hold could be that its simply not required anymore given the amount of GaaS product that's entered production elsewhere in the studio group, and is much closer to completion/ready for release. You can't assume fault when the business demands could simply take precedence.
