Sony Stopped the Last of Us 2 Multiplayer Mod. Say Where the Line Is

A fan-made multiplayer mode for The Last of Us Part II on PC will not come out. Its creator, Speclizer, posted on X on September 13 that they had received a letter on behalf of Sony Interactive Entertainment asking for the mod not to be released. As VGC reported, the project had been in development since January, was due out in September and was partly funded through Patreon.

Sony was within its rights. The license for Part II Remastered on PC bans unauthorized mods, and a Patreon attached to someone else's game made a letter likely. Our complaint is with how little that license tells modders about where Sony actually draws the line. As far as we can find, Sony publishes no fan content policy that says which projects it will act on, so modders learn the real line from letters like this one. CD Projekt Red has written its line down in plain words. Sony should do the same.

What Speclizer built, and where the money came in

The mod set out to recreate Factions, the multiplayer mode from the first game, inside The Last of Us Part II Remastered on PC. Characters from Part II fought across campaign locations with custom perks and a limited version of the listening mechanic. Speclizer built it in public, posting progress on X and a YouTube series. In July, PC Gamer covered the jump from 1v1 to 4v4 matches. By the most recent update video the mod had five maps and basic leaderboards, PC Gamer reports. It adds that the plan was reportedly to release the finished mod for free.

Then there is the money. Push Square reports development was at least partially funded by Patreon pledges, and argues that put the mod on Sony's radar more than a standard free mod. DSOGaming noted in June that all of Speclizer's other mods sat behind a Patreon wall. PC Gamer says even a hint of monetization on an unofficial project like this is generally a recipe for trouble. We agree with Push Square and PC Gamer, with one caveat: Sony has not said publicly why it sent the letter.

What Sony's written rules say

Sony does have rules in writing. The license agreement for Part II Remastered on Steam says players agree not to modify the game or "create or make available unauthorised mods", and not to make it available on a network to other users without SIE's written consent. A fan multiplayer mode runs into more than one of those clauses before any Patreon enters the picture. The same text treats a camera tweak exactly the same way, so it cannot tell a modder which projects Sony will treat as a problem.

So modders read the letters. In January 2024 Lilith Walther said Sony had contacted her and she needed to scrub the Bloodborne branding off Bloodborne Kart, PC Gamer reported, and the game is now called Nightmare Kart. In February 2025 Lance McDonald said he had received a DMCA takedown notice on behalf of SIE over a Bloodborne 60fps patch he had released in 2021. In March 2025 lawyers representing Sony sent Maxime Foulquier a cease and desist over his Bloodborne fan tribute, which he made public in February 2026. Each letter told one creator where Sony stood on one project, and we could not find a public Sony page that would have told them first.

The Factions players Naughty Dog already knows about

Naughty Dog knows this audience exists. VGC notes Part II was originally meant to include multiplayer until Neil Druckmann said in September 2019 that it would not. In its December 2023 update, the studio said it was stopping work on The Last of Us Online and that the news would be tough for its dedicated Factions community. Releasing and supporting the game would have meant putting all studio resources behind post-launch content for years, severely impacting future single-player games. Former director Vinit Agarwal said this year the team had developed it to almost 80% completion, and PC Gamer ties part of the eagerness for Speclizer's mod to that cancellation. Choosing single-player was a fair call for Naughty Dog. It still left Factions fans without the multiplayer Part II was first planned to have.

What to take from this, on either side of the letter

• Studios: publish the line you actually enforce. A license that bans every unauthorized mod does not tell anyone what earns a letter. CD Projekt Red's fan content guidelines allow mods and reasonable donations and draw the line at paywalls.
• Studios: say what would fix it. When CD Projekt Red issued a DMCA takedown for Luke Ross's paywalled Cyberpunk 2077 VR mod in January 2026, it later said it would allow the mod if it were offered for free, Road to VR reports. Ross declined, but he knew the terms.
• Studios: treat fan projects as research. Months of public gameplay videos and press coverage show how many people still want a mode you cut. Keep those numbers when the project comes down.
• Modders: keep money away from other people's games. Take donations for your original work, or skip them. Push Square and PC Gamer both flagged the Patreon in their coverage of this case.
• Modders: build a following that outlives the mod. The mod is gone, but Speclizer could still ask followers on X to come along to a project of their own.
• Community managers: prepare the shutdown message early. If your server hosts fan work, know what you will say and pin when a takedown lands, so the thread does not turn into a pile-on against the studio or the creator.

Speclizer's own post works as a template for that last point. It said who the letter came from, thanked supporters for the past year, took no shots at Sony and asked people to follow the next project. It was also not their first Part II project. Wccftech notes earlier work restoring the cut Hold Up feature in the story mode.

One cancelled mod will not hurt Sony. A public page showing the line Sony actually enforces could have reached Speclizer in January, when the project started.

C3L grows and runs game communities and builds the software behind them, and a written line for fan projects belongs in that work from day one.