People Playground shuts down its Workshop over malware: is this the end of mods?

A heavy blow for one of the most beloved sandbox games on Steam. As reported by Gamereactor Spain, Studio Minus has disabled Steam Workshop support in People Playground, its popular ragdoll simulator, after discovering a malicious mod that the studio itself describes as "particularly serious". The announcement came on September 22 through a news update on Steam, and shortly afterwards a new version of the game was released that prevents any mod from running.

This matters far more than it might seem. In People Playground, mods aren't an extra: they're a big part of what makes the game fun and the fuel for countless content creators. And this isn't the first time, either: it's the second outbreak of its kind this year. When a studio decides to cut its losses and admits that mods "might never" return, it's a warning sign for the entire ecosystem of community-created content.

What you need to know

• Studio Minus has disabled Steam Workshop in People Playground and released a version that completely blocks mods from running.
• This is the second malware incident the game has suffered this year.
• The infected mod hijacks the victim's Steam account to republish itself on the Workshop along with personal data.
• It also deletes files from People Playground and other installed games, and sends insults to the victim's friends list.
• The Workshop will only return once mods are "fundamentally safe to run", something the studio admits may never happen.

How the mod worked and why it's so dangerous

The technical details come from a Reddit user who analyzed the infected mod's code, as reported by PC Gamer. It behaves like a textbook worm: once you run it, it takes control of your Steam account and uses it to republish itself on the Workshop, taking the victim's personal information along with it. In other words, every infected player becomes a new distribution point, using their own account, which gives it an air of legitimacy that's hard to spot at a glance.

As if that weren't enough, the mod deletes files related to People Playground and to other games you have installed, and finishes the job by sending insults to your contacts. It's a mix of technical and social damage: you lose data, you expose your information and you end up looking bad in front of your friends, who may also fall for it thinking the link came from someone they trust.

A message that has kept changing

At first, Studio Minus stated that the mod didn't steal passwords. However, the studio later walked back that position and urged players to take action, which makes it clear the situation was more serious than initially thought. On Discord, the team was blunt: no Workshop until mods are safe by design.

Our take

Here at Underworld Lordz, we're clear on this: Studio Minus did the right thing, even if it hurts. When a mod can hijack Steam accounts, your account is no longer just about one game: it's your library, your inventory, your history and, for many of us, part of our competitive identity. Putting player safety ahead of engagement is a brave decision that few studios would make with a game that literally lives off its community.

That said, the decision also exposes a deeper problem. If a game's mods can run code with that much freedom, the risk was there from the start, and a second outbreak in the same year suggests the response to the first one wasn't strong enough. We'd also like to see Valve step up more: the Workshop is its platform, and a worm being able to republish itself using other people's accounts should set off every alarm in Bellevue. For content creators who make a living showing off crazy mods on stream or on video, this is a crushing blow with no fix in sight.

Our advice, as a team: treat mods the way you'd treat any executable. Check who publishes them, be wary of ones that suddenly shoot to the top, turn on Steam Guard if you haven't already and, if you ran anything suspicious, change your password and review your active sessions. Your Steam account is worth more than any ragdoll.

What do you think?

We want to hear your point of view, especially if you're one of those who spent hours tinkering in the Workshop or creating content with it. Do you think Studio Minus was right to shut down mods overnight, or would you rather studios take on the risk and keep community creativity open? Let us know in the team chat or on our Discord.