The live-action series adaptation of The Last of Us has taken the world by storm, not unlike a Cordyceps brain infection. As a result, there’s been a sudden boom in game sales, as seen by the game’s 238% rise in week-on-week sales on the UK Boxed Charts immediately following the series premiere.
The nine-episode HBO series currently has three episodes out and already scored an early renewal for a second season, something a lot of other streaming series can’t do. Most other streaming series can’t score renewals period, so this is a big deal. An expansive and (mostly) faithful adaptation, the premiere alone garnered over an Earth-shattering 10 million viewers in just two days. To put it in perspective, that’s millions more than Switzerland’s entire population.
This was HBO’s second-biggest premiere in the last 13 years, only behind House of the Dragon. Following that, episode two broke HBO’s record for the largest viewership growth from the premiere to the second episode. Episode three continued this trend, even jumping 12% to a series high.
All this hype has led to increased sales of the beloved game and its sequel. In the UK, The Last of Us: Remastered on PlayStation 4 jumped 322% in sales and landed at #32 on the UK Boxed Charts. The 2022 PS5 remake The Last of Us Part 1 managed to snag #20 with its 238% rise. In the United States, The Last of Us Part 2 and The Last of Us: Remastered quickly took the top spots on Amazon’s “Best Sellers in PlayStation 4 Games” list.
If viewership numbers keep going up as they have been, exposure to The Last of Us will keep climbing too. We have no doubt that this series will continue to smash records.
