The Last of Us was already quite the iconic franchise. With its impressive debut in the video game marketplace, players were eager to dive into this post-apocalyptic story on the PlayStation 3. Naughty Dog didn’t wait very long until they introduced The Last of Us Remastered edition for the PlayStation 4. To top it off, they recently delivered a remake of the game for PlayStation 5 and PC platforms. So while we’re given several mediums to enjoy the video game narrative, a new surge of fans has been added to the community ranks thanks to the HBO series adaptation.
Normally, adaptations from video games fall far from the source material and capture the essence of what made the game a success. Fortunately, The Last of Us didn’t fall into that trend, as the HBO series has continued to thrive with each and every new episode. Viewers, both veteran players of the game and newcomers to the IP, have been tuning into the series weekly. We’re getting a thrilling adventure following Joel and Ellie as they embark on a journey across the hostile and barren United States of America.
While there is still a growing number of newcomers that are enjoying the show, a new milestone was recently hit for The Last of Us. Thanks to a report by Deadline, it’s noted that Nielsen has recorded that over 1.2 billion minutes were watched within the week for The Last of Us. That’s quite the feat, and it’s a reflection of just how popular this series has become since it debuted back in January of this year. Additionally, this is only recorded minutes for HBO Max and not including minutes from the HBO channel. Unfortunately, we’re dwindling down to the last couple of episodes this season, so we’re sitting in on the final few moments of the show adaptation.
With that said, we already know that HBO greenlighted a second season. So those of you who are enjoying the journey The Last of Us has taken viewers, more content is coming. There is even a chance that production for the second season will begin filming this year. That should hopefully make for a slightly quicker turnaround for the next season’s release. Meanwhile, for those itching for more of The Last of Us, we know that a multiplayer game is in the works. Although, there’s been nothing officially revealed regarding a third mainline installment for the franchise.