- The Last of Us Season 1 boosted the games’ sales by 75%.
- The games also saw a playercount surge up to 1000%.
- With Season 2’s release next week, another boost is expected.
The Last of Us TV show is praised as one of the best video game adaptations, becoming the most-streamed series across Europe and Latin America with 32 million average viewers per episode.
The TV show adaptation also boosted the games’ popularity significantly. With the first season’s release, The Last of Us video games saw a surge in player count of up to 1000%.
Why it matters: Cinematic adaptations of video games have just started to be successful. Such massive achievements help introduce new audiences to video games—a clear win for the gaming industry.
According to a new report published by The Game Business, The Last of Us game series saw a boost of 38% in sales when the show first aired. At the end of the show’s run, the sales jumped to 78%, a comparison level to before the show started to air initially.
The Last of Us Part 1 Remastered saw a staggering 1.8 million monthly players in January 2023 when the show started to air, marking a 1000% increase. The vanilla version of the game reached 600k players—a 347% rise from pre-show numbers. Meanwhile, the sequel reached 1.4 players, reflecting a 440% increase.
The post-show numbers saw a significant surge, with The Last of Us Part 1 Remastered reaching 2.2 million players in February, marking a 417% increase compared to January. In contrast, the vanilla version experienced a 62% drop, while the sequel gained approximately 1.6 million new players, reflecting a 178% rise.
The Last of Us Season 2 will air next week and will possibly bring another surge to the gaming franchise, possibly an even higher one compared to 2023.
With the Last of Us franchise becoming one of the most prized gaming IPs ever, Naughty Dog still isn’t willing to proceed with future entries. Neil Druckmann has repeatedly stated that he won’t be working on a threequel, suggesting it may never happen.
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[News Reporter]
Shaheer is currently pursuing a Business degree while also working as a part-time Content Writer. With his deep passion for both writing and video games, he has seamlessly transitioned into a role as a Journalist. Over the past two years, Shaheer has contributed as a freelancer to various websites and landed positions on acclaimed platforms like Gamerant. Currently, his role at Tech4gamers is as a Features Writer, but he also covers News occasionally. Shaheer’s favorite gaming franchises are Assassin’s Creed and the God of War series.
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