Sony shuts down The Last of Us Part II multiplayer mod before release

An unofficial multiplayer mod for The Last of Us Part II Remastered has been cancelled after its creator received a letter sent on behalf of Sony Interactive Entertainment asking that it not be released. Modder Speclizer had been developing the free PC project since January 2026 and planned to release it in September.

The project was already approaching a playable multiplayer experience, with 4v4 matches, custom loadouts, several maps, weapons, skills, and leaderboards in development. Speclizer confirmed the cancellation on September 13 and said the next project would instead be something original.

Speclizer said the letter arrived shortly before the planned public release. He described himself as “extremely sad” that the project would not be released after months of work, but confirmed that development would not continue toward a public launch.

Sony Interactive Entertainment has not publicly explained why it requested that the mod remain unreleased. The project was unofficial and built around the PC version of The Last of Us Part II Remastered, with some of its development supported through Speclizer’s Patreon.

The mod had moved well beyond its early 1v1 testing before Sony intervened. By late July, Speclizer had multiplayer matches running with up to eight players, allowing two teams of four to compete against each other.

More features had been added as development continued. Speclizer’s latest update showed a loadout system, multiple weapons and skills, five maps, and basic leaderboards, while earlier footage also demonstrated matchmaking and other systems intended to make the project feel closer to a complete multiplayer mode.

The mod was still unfinished, and no exact September release date had been announced. Its cancellation means the build shown throughout development will not receive the public launch Speclizer had been preparing.

Interest in Speclizer’s project was partly driven by the absence of an official multiplayer mode for The Last of Us Part II. The original The Last of Us included the Factions multiplayer mode, but its sequel launched without an equivalent component.

Naughty Dog later worked on a standalone multiplayer game set in The Last of Us universe before cancelling it in 2023. The studio said supporting the game after launch would have required a large share of its resources. That would have made it harder to keep developing the single-player games the studio is known for.

Speclizer’s mod offered an unofficial attempt to bring competitive multiplayer to the second game on PC, but that project has now ended as well. The creator says he plans to move on to an original project rather than release the Last of Us Part II multiplayer build.