Fans of The Last of Us video games have long awaited a cinematic adaptation to match. The new series can apparently also inspire newcomers – because sales of the games are increasing rapidly.
In mid-January, the HBO production “The Last of Us” started. Since then, UK sales of the video game series of the same name have increased by several hundred percent.
The Last of US games back on the charts
The British Association for UK Interactive Entertainment publishes a weekly ranking of the best-selling video games. The data is collected by the German market research company Gfk and, due to its topicality, gives a good picture of which video games are currently in vogue.
According to the latest Ukie list from January 24, two titles from the “The Last of Us” series have suddenly found their way back into the top 40 best-selling games. The Last of Us Remastered, a remastered version of the original PS3 game for PS4, lands at number 32. The Last of Us Part I, a complete remake of the original game for PS5, even makes it to number 20. Both Games were not even in the charts in the previous week. In Italy, on the other hand, the sequel “The Last of Us Part II” ranks 7th among the best-selling console games (source: extra).
As the British video game news portal “GamesIndustryreported that sales for both titles have increased by several hundred percent. The Last of Us Part I saw a 238 percent increase over the previous week. Sales of the PS4 version “The Last of Us Remastered” even increased by a whopping 322 percent. However, the Gfk statistics only include sales of physical copies of the games, so digital sales are not included.
TV series with a successful start
For the American TV network HBO, “The Last of Us” is currently proving to be a hit. Like the parent company Warner Bros. Discovery communicates, tuned in to the premiere of the first episode with 4.7 million viewers in the US alone. For HBO, this is the third strongest series start since 2010. Only “Boardwalk Empire” with 4.81 million and the “Game of Thrones” spin-off “House of the Dragon” with an insane 9.99 million viewers at the premiere have been more successful so far. In the second week, HBO was also able to record growth of 22 percent, episode 2 saw 5.7 million people in the USA at the start.
The adaptation of the “The Last of Us” games was already eagerly awaited in advance. After airing the first episode, the series has received an excellent 99 percent approval rating from critics Rotten Tomatoes receive. A week and a half later, the score is still a very good 97 percent. Users rate the series IMDB also with an outstanding 9.4 out of 10 points.
source
Ukie: “New Fire Emblem title tops UK boxed game charts in first week of release“ (accessed 25 January 2023)