After the success of The Last of Us television adaptation, all eyes were on the PC adaptation. Unfortunately, things haven't played out as expected. To the disappointment of many, The Last of Us Part 1 launched with technical issues, leading to many players review-bombing the game on Steam. Naughty Dog has acknowledged the issues and a patch has been released to address some of the problems, but it has already left a sour taste in the mouths of many.
The Last of Us Part 1's reception could be a bad sign for anyone hoping that The Last of Us Part 2 will make its way to PC. Although the thought of the groundbreaking game being ported is exciting, the recent failure may make Naughty Dog cut their losses and play things safe. Sony has been rapidly expanding into the PC market, but as the latest port is showing, not all games will nail their landing.
The Last of Us Part 1 Launches on PC
The Last of Us debuted in 2013 on PS3. When Naughty Dog announced that the game would also receive a PS5 remake, titled The Last of Us Part 1, it did raise some suspicion, though there were plenty of improvements made to justify the entry fee. In addition to improved visuals and audio, there was also improved enemy AI, making encounters with foes more intense. This version of the game was recently ported to PC, though fans were less than impressed with what they received.
There is a litany of glitches and technical issues, along with long loading times for The Last of Us Part 1. Users have also reported frequent crashes and stuttering frame rates. This is quite shocking, as Naughty Dog is a studio known for its assiduousness. It should be noted that this port was developed by Iron Galaxy, a studio that developed the notoriously bad PC port of Batman: Arkham Knight. Since launch, The Last of Us Part 1 on PC has been review-bombed on Steam, and it currently sits with mostly negative reviews from users. On Metacritic, it has a disappointing user score of 1.9. This does not paint a good picture of the franchise's future on PC.
The Future of The Last of Us On PC
On the surface, it is obvious why The Last of Us leaped to PC. With the success of the television series, the franchise has grown bigger than ever, and a PC port makes it possible for more fans to play through Joel and Ellie's adventure. Although similar PlayStation franchises such as Uncharted and God of War have successfully made the transition to PC, it may not be in the cards for The Last of Us.
For a studio that is as detail-oriented and dedicated to perfectionism as Naughty Dog, failed projects are a huge blight, and this may motivate the studio to shy away from making further attempts to port The Last of Us titles to PC. While this is disappointing, as it lowers the odds of The Last of Us Part 2 making it to PC, it also means Naughty Dog can invest more of its resources into ensuring its console experiences are polished to perfection.
Fortunately, there is still plenty more The Last of Us fun to look forward to. This includes the television adaptation of The Last of Us Part 2, as well as the release of the long-awaited standalone multiplayer game. Though The Last of Us may be struggling to gain its footing on the PC market, it is still thriving on consoles and television screens.
The Last of Us Part 1 is available now on PC and PS5.