The Last of Us 2 multiplayer might still be possible thanks to modding efforts 2 years after Naughty Dog officially canceled its online spin-off

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The Last of Us 2 multiplayer might still be possible thanks to modding efforts 2 years after Naughty Dog officially canceled its online spin-off News By George Young published 8 January 2026

It's not much, but it's a start

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A modder for games like The Last of Us and God of War has been working on a potential multiplayer mod for The Last of Us Part 2, two years after Naughty Dog canceled its official The Last of Us online multiplayer spin-off game. The project was shut down four years into development, despite the team's praise. One developer called it "the highlight of my career."

The online entry in The Last of Us series was canceled in part so that Naughty Dog could focus its efforts on its next major single-player experience, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. After the cancellation was announced, the PC modding community began looking into the possibility of adding multiplayer into the already available The Last of Us games.

No one has been able to create online multiplayer for The Last of Us yet, but one modder is working on it with some success. Modder Speclizer recently posted a tweet showing a short video of multiplayer working in The Last of Us Part 2, though it only works locally for the moment.

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They haven't promised that the mod will be completed any time soon, if at all, but the video shows some progress on a multiplayer mod with two Ellies being controlled independently. The modder adds that they "don't know if this will turn out to be anything," but they've been able to spawn two separate players in the same game.

As they say, this is early days, but it appears that they are currently exploring whether this could be turned into a full online multiplayer mod for PC. The second Ellie's movement doesn't look the smoothest, but it's a start. Certainly, one to keep an eye on.

Canceled The Last of Us Online game was "great," but former PlayStation exec says Naughty Dog had to scrap it after Bungie told them how much work it would be.

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Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. TOPICS Naughty Dog CATEGORIES PS5 PC Gaming Platforms PlayStation George YoungFreelance News Writer

Freelance writer, full-time PlayStation Vita enthusiast, and speaker of some languages. I break up my days by watching people I don't know play Pokemon pretty fast.

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