Both The Last of Us games saw an uptick in Amazon sales following the premiere of its TV adaptation. Premiered on January 15th, HBO's The Last of Us was met with overwhelming success, becoming the second-largest debut behind House of the Dragon with 4.7 million viewers for the first episode.
The HBO series is based on Naughty Dog's critically acclaimed action-adventure video game of the same name, which follows Joel and Ellie as they travel across America while fighting off cordyceps-infected zombies. The adaptation stars Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, and they are joined with an equally talented cast, including the likes of Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Nick Offerman as Bill, and Merle Dandridge reprising her role as Marlene.
Following the first episode's premiere, there seemed to be an increased interest in The Last of Us games as they made Amazon's "Best Sellers in PlayStation 4 Games" list. The Last of Us Part 2 took the top spot, while two versions of The Last of Us Remastered placed third and fifth, beating out other popular games like God of War Ragnarok and Hogwarts Legacy.
The Last of Us creator and Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann previously said in a New Yorker interview that he wanted the HBO series to break the video game adaptation curse by sticking with the riveting storytelling that made the game great, while making some changes that didn't ruin the title's integrity. One notable change was replacing the spores from The Last of Us to tendrils, which garnered some mixed reactions from longtime fans. But with the premiere of The Last of Us' pilot episode, the overall reception has been positive so far, even receiving a 96% average audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Just like other video game adaptations, HBO's The Last of Us had game-accurate scenes that still left a lasting impression on players who already experienced it, as well as viewers who were seeing them for the first time. It might be a sign of good things to come for the series, which is slated to air a total of nine episodes, as it didn't veer too far from the source material while also adding some nuance to certain scenes.
It's still too early to tell whether The Last of Us Part 2 will get its own adaptation down the line, but there are some fans who are already asking for it. Whether a sequel will be greenlit or not is still unknown, rumor has it that Naughty Dog is already developing The Last of Us Part 3 at least.
The Last of Us airs Sunday nights on HBO.
Source: Amazon