The Last of Us Part II was initially supposed to continue the original game’s popular Factions multiplayer mode, but Naughty Dog ultimately separated that experience from the sequel before transforming it into a far more ambitious standalone project. That game was officially canceled in 2023, leaving fans without a new multiplayer experience and Naughty Dog free to continue developing the single-player games for which the studio is best known.
A team of modders eventually decided to build the missing multiplayer mode themselves, complete with custom maps, perks, leaderboards, matchmaking, and support for 4v4 matches. After months of development and 25 minutes of gameplay footage, the unofficial project was finally expected to launch for The Last of Us Part II Remastered on PC this month, but its creators have now confirmed it will never be released.
Modder Speclizer announced that the planned Last of Us Part II multiplayer mod has been canceled after receiving a letter on behalf of Sony Interactive Entertainment requesting that it not be released. “Extremely sad that this never got to see the light of day,” Speclizer wrote, thanking fans for supporting the project and revealing plans to move on to an original game. The project had reportedly been in development since January and attempted to create the multiplayer component that never accompanied The Last of Us Part II. Footage released earlier this year showed players competing across environments from the sequel while using many of its existing combat and stealth mechanics against one another.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Sony Stops ‘The Last of Us Part II’ Multiplayer Mod Before Release
Speclizer and the project’s other developers also created original systems intended specifically for competitive play, including restricted Listen Mode mechanics and custom perks. Although the mod was unofficial, it offered fans their closest look yet at how The Last of Us Part II’s significantly expanded gameplay could have translated into a successor to Factions. Its cancellation is especially frustrating because it marks the second time a multiplayer project connected to The Last of Us Part II has disappeared before reaching players. Naughty Dog originally announced that multiplayer would not be included with the sequel because the team’s vision had grown beyond what could be offered as an additional mode, eventually leading to the standalone project known as The Last of Us Online.
Sony has not publicly explained its reason for requesting that Speclizer’s mod remain unreleased, although the project used intellectual property and assets belonging to the company. Whatever the legal reasoning may be, The Last of Us fans have now lost the franchise’s next multiplayer game twice, including the version they tried to make for themselves.
