For those of you who have played The Last of Us series, the game's mechanics are some of the most satisfying you will ever come across. The tight over-the-shoulder camera, the dodge mechanic, the brutality of the melee combat, the realistic shooting, and the way animations blend seamlessly together make it a package you cannot find anywhere else. TLOU fans have been wanting to put it all to the test against each other in a proper multiplayer mode for years.
An unofficial PvP multiplayer project for The Last of Us Part 2 on PC had been that ray of hope. Sony, however, wasn't fond of the idea and has now shut the mod down. The creator behind the project, Speclizer, confirmed that plans have been cancelled after receiving a letter from Sony Interactive Entertainment.
The heartbreaking part is how close we came to getting the mod. Back in June, a full 25 minutes of gameplay showed how far the mod had come since January, with a release expected this month. Speclizer had been posting regular clips of in-development versions throughout the year, with the most recent video published on August 22. "We've gone from a buggy 1v1 test to something that actually feels like a real multiplayer mode," the modder said, highlighting newly added features like public matchmaking and a full loadout system.
As for why Sony's legal team came after this particular mod when so many others exist freely, the answer likely comes down to a Patreon payment component attached to the project, which made it harder to ignore than a purely free fan creation.
Speclizer's mod was attempting to recreate the spirit of The Last of Us Factions, the multiplayer mode from the first game, which was never included in the PC port. The finished version promised listening mechanics to locate enemy players, a perks system, and a suite of maps not seen in the base single-player game.
This is the second The Last of Us multiplayer project to end without ever reaching players. Naughty Dog cancelled its own official multiplayer game set in The Last of Us universe in late 2023. That project was reportedly 80 percent complete before it was cancelled.
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The studio said supporting the game after launch would have required dedicating resources to ongoing multiplayer content, harming its ability to develop future single-player games. Former Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida said he had played The Last of Us Online and thought it was "great." The game's director, Vinit Agarwal, said former colleagues still message him calling it "the best multiplayer game they've ever played."
