The Last of Us

The Last of Us is an action-adventure video game series and media franchise created by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series is set in a post-apocalyptic United States ravaged by cannibalistic humans infected by a mutated fungus in the genus Cordyceps. It follows several survivors, including Joel, a smuggler who lost his daughter during the outbreak; Ellie, a young girl who is immune to the infection; and Abby, a soldier who becomes involved in a conflict between her militia and a religious cult. The games use a third-person perspective in which the player fights against hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures with firearms, improvised weapons, and stealth.

Game director Bruce Straley and creative director Neil Druckmann led development of the first game, The Last of Us, which was released for the PlayStation 3 in June 2013 and PlayStation 4 in July 2014. A downloadable content expansion, The Last of Us: Left Behind, was released in February 2014 and follows Ellie and her best friend Riley. Druckmann continued to lead development of the sequel, The Last of Us Part II, which was released for the PlayStation 4 in June 2020, PlayStation 5 in January 2024, and Windows in April 2025. A remake of the first game, titled The Last of Us Part I, was released for the PlayStation 5 in September 2022 and Windows in March 2023.

The series has received critical acclaim and has won numerous awards, including several Game of the Year recognitions; the first game has been ranked as one of the greatest video games ever made, and the second won more than 320 Game of the Year awards. Games in the series are among the best-selling PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 games. The franchise has sold over 37 million games as of January 2023. Strong sales and support of the series led to the franchise's expansion into other media, including a comic book in 2013, live show in 2014, television adaptation for HBO and haunted house for Universal Studios in 2023, and tabletop game by Themeborne in 2024.

Media

Video games

The Last of Us was released for the PlayStation 3 on June 14, 2013. A remastered version, titled The Last of Us Remastered, was released for the PlayStation 4 in July 2014. Twenty years after losing his daughter Sarah during the outbreak of the mutant Cordyceps fungus, Joel is tasked with escorting Ellie, a teenage girl who is immune to the infection, across a post-apocalyptic United States so the revolutionary group Fireflies can potentially create a cure. Throughout their journey, the two become closer after experiencing several traumatic events. After arriving in Salt Lake City, Ellie is prepared for surgery, which will involve killing her. Unwilling to let her die, Joel battles his way to the operating room, kills the lead surgeon, and carries the unconscious Ellie to safety. When Ellie wakes up, Joel lies to her, stating the attempts to create a cure had failed.

The Last of Us: Left Behind was released for the PlayStation 3 on February 14, 2014. A downloadable expansion pack of The Last of Us, Left Behind was included in Remastered for the PlayStation 4 in 2014, and was released as a stand-alone expansion pack for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 on May 12, 2015. It is set three weeks before the events of the main game, following Ellie as she spends time with her best friend Riley in an abandoned mall in Boston. Riley reveals she has been assigned to a group of Fireflies in a different city. Ellie tearfully begs Riley not to leave; Riley agrees and rips her Firefly pendant off, prompting Ellie to kiss her. They are overrun by Infected and both bitten. They briefly consider shooting themselves to prevent the infection taking over them, but instead choose to spend their final hours together.

The Last of Us Part II was released for the PlayStation 4 on June 19, 2020. A remastered version, titled The Last of Us Part II Remastered, was released for the PlayStation 5 in January 2024 and Windows in April 2025. Four years after the events of the first game, Abby Anderson tracks down and kills Joel as revenge for murdering her father, the head Firefly surgeon. Ellie and her girlfriend Dina set out for Seattle to track down Abby. Over the course of three days, Ellie kills several of Abby's friends, while Abby befriends Lev, who has been branded an apostate after defying the traditions of the religious cult Seraphites. After Abby discovers her friends dead, she tracks down Ellie and overpowers her, but spares them at Lev's insistence. Several months later, Ellie and Dina are living on a farm. Ellie sets out to find Abby again in Santa Barbara; she discovers Abby and Lev captured and forces Abby to fight. Ellie overpowers her but has a change of heart and lets her live. Abby and Lev sail to the Fireflies, while Ellie returns to the farmhouse and finds it empty.

The Last of Us Part I was released for the PlayStation 5 on September 2, 2022, and for Windows on March 28, 2023. It is a remake of the first game, featuring revised gameplay, overhauled artificial intelligence, improved performance, and expanded accessibility options.

Other media

A four-issue comic book miniseries, The Last of Us: American Dreams, was published by Dark Horse Comics from April to July 2013. Written by the game's creative director Neil Druckmann and illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks, the comics serve as a prequel to the game, chronicling the journey of a younger Ellie and Riley. At The Last of Us: One Night Live on July 28, 2014, the game's cast performed a live reading of selected scenes in Santa Monica, California, with live music by game composer Gustavo Santaolalla. The performance was hosted and directed by Druckmann, with graphics by Alex Hobbs.

On The Last of Us Day in September 2020, CMON announced it was developing The Last of Us: The Board Game, a tabletop game intending to focus on exploration, narrative, and survival elements. A different tabletop game, The Last of Us: Escape the Dark, was announced in November 2022, produced by Naughty Dog and Themeborne; the game allows up to five players to try to reach safety from enemies while exploring locations from the game. It was released through Asmodee in the United States on November 29, 2024.

In January 2025, Druckmann announced a physical experience allowing users to fight against the infected in Seattle during the events of Part II with virtual weapons, immersive video, audio, and scent technologies, first exhibited at the Consumer Electronics Show. The Last of Us: Part I and Part II Scripts—a 618-page hardcover book featuring the scripts for The Last of Us, Left Behind, and Part II—was published by Dark Horse Books on December 16, 2025, featuring a foreword by Joel's actor Troy Baker and art by principal character concept artist Hyoung Nam.

Canceled films

On March 6, 2014, Sony announced Screen Gems would distribute a film adaptation of The Last of Us, written by Druckmann and produced by Sam Raimi. By January 2015, Druckmann had written the script's second draft, and performed a read-through with some actors. In April 2016, Druckmann stated the film had entered development hell; in November, Raimi said the film was at a standstill after Sony had a disagreement with Druckmann. The rights had relinquished by 2019. Druckmann said the film fell apart as the studio was focused on big action set-pieces, whereas he felt The Last of Us was better approached as a smaller indie film. Actress Maisie Williams expressed enthusiasm in playing Ellie, and was in talks with both Druckmann and Raimi to take the role, while Kaitlyn Dever participated in a table read.

In January 2020, images surfaced of an animated short film adaptation of The Last of Us by production agency Oddfellows. The 20-minute film was intended to "serve as a strong bridge" between the game and its sequel and would "reinterpret each of the chapters of the game with a unique visual treatment" but was canceled by Sony. In 2023, Druckmann said he had written a short story after the first game was released about Ellie's mother, which was intended to be adapted into an animated short film, but "it fell apart"; it was later incorporated into the television adaptation.

Television series

In March 2020, a television adaptation of the game was announced in the planning stages at HBO; it was formally greenlit in November 2020. Druckmann and Craig Mazin wrote and executive produced the series, and both directed episodes; while additional executive producers include Carolyn Strauss and Rose Lam, former Naughty Dog president Evan Wells, and PlayStation Productions's Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan. The show is a joint production between Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, Naughty Dog, The Mighty Mint, and Word Games; it is the first show produced by PlayStation Productions. Santaolalla and David Fleming compose the score.