People Playground Blocks Mods After Second Malware Scare

Studio Minus has disabled Steam Workshop support for People Playground after discovering what it called an "especially bad" malicious mod circulating through the ragdoll sandbox's community content, marking the second such outbreak the game has suffered this year.

The developer posted a Steam news update on September 22 confirming the shutdown and has since shipped a new build that blocks mods from running entirely. On Discord, Studio Minus said Workshop support would only return once mods are "fundamentally safe to run," adding that this outcome "might never happen."

According to a user who examined the infected mod, as reported by PC Gamer , the code hijacks a victim's Steam account to republish itself on the Workshop alongside personal information, deletes files tied to People Playground and other installed games, and sends slurs to the user's friends list. Studio Minus initially said the mod did not steal passwords, but has since urged players to change their Discord credentials and passwords on other important accounts as a precaution.

This is People Playground's second Workshop malware scare in 2026, following a similar self-replicating infection in February that also forced a temporary shutdown. It's part of a wider run of Workshop-related incidents this year, including malicious Project Zomboid mods and compromised maps for Meccha Chameleon, underscoring how exposed Steam's open modding ecosystem remains even as titles like the first Zelda game show what community mods can add when things go right.