Naughty Dog’s epic tale has become the fastest-selling PlayStation 4 exclusive ever.
Naughty Dog’s epic tale has become the fastest-selling PlayStation 4 exclusive ever.
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Naughty Dog’s epic tale has become the fastest-selling PlayStation 4 exclusive ever.
To call The Last of Us Part II “anticipated” would be something of an understatement. But there’s always some degree of doubt as to just how well something will sell, particularly when it has attracted the ire of some of the grubbier parts of video game fandom.
It was cheering, then, to see The Last of Us Part II top the sales chart in its first week. But we didn’t realise just how unequivocally the game got there until now.
In a post on the PlayStation blog, Sony has confirmed that The Last of Us Part II has sold over 4 million copies through to June 21, just three days after the game released. (It’s worth keeping in mind that pre-orders will have counted as “day one” sales, so the game didn’t literally shift four million units in a weekend, but still, it’s a remarkable feat.)
That now officially makes The Last of Us Part II the fastest-selling PlayStation 4 exclusive ever, surpassing God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, all of the Uncharted games, Bloodborne and, of course, the original The Last of Us.
Neil Druckmann, vice president of Naughty Dog and director of The Last of Us Part II said:
“We are so immensely grateful to the millions of fans around the world that have played The Last of Us Part II and shared their experiences with us over the last week. We set out to tell a new kind of story, one that deals with difficult themes and would challenge you in unexpected ways. Hearing how the experience has resonated with so many of you and witnessing the type of thoughtful discussions it has sparked has been so incredible. We’ve also been so inspired by your creativity – whether it’s your gorgeous Photo Mode shots, jaw-dropping gameplay GIFs, or the songs you’ve recorded using Ellie’s guitar.
The Last of Us Part II was made possible thanks to the efforts of the hundreds of talented and passionate developers here at Naughty Dog. We can imagine no greater honour than seeing that same passion mirrored by the people playing it. Thank you for helping us reach this amazing milestone.”
It is, as we expected all along, a minority who took issue with The Last of Us Part II and its openly gay, female protagonist.
But it’s always nice to see a rebuttal of the “get woke, go broke” mantra. It’s even more pleasing to see one that is so emphatic and empirical.
Getting ready to play The Last of Us Part II, but can’t remember what happened in the original? You’ll want to read our comprehensive story recap.
Found it interesting, entertaining, useful, or informative? Maybe it even saved you some money. That’s great to hear! Sadly, independent publishing is struggling worse than ever, and Thumbsticks is no exception. So please, if you can afford to, consider supporting us via Patreon or buying us a coffee.
Tom is an itinerant freelance technology writer who found a home as an Editor with Thumbsticks. Powered by coffee, RPGs, and local co-op.
The Last of Us Part II takes No.1 in the UK games chart
Prepare for Part II with our comprehensive The Last of Us story recap
Is The Last of Us Part II worth playing?
11 key takeaways from The Last of Us Part II’s State of Play presentation
Sony to broadcast The Last of Us Part II gameplay deep dive
Watch The Last of Us Part II’s story trailer (on a website without a comments section)
The Nintendo Switch version of The Outer Worlds is getting a much needed patch.
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The Nintendo Switch version of The Outer Worlds is getting a much needed performance patch.
We’re big fans of The Outer Worlds here at Thumbsticks. Obsidian Entertainment’s sci-fi RPG is ambitious, colourful, funny, and, most importantly, not too big. The game was deservedly in contention for game of the year in 2019.
However, Nintendo Switch version released earlier this month is a mixed bag. It’s content complete – which is in itself impressive – but it’s a technical nightmare with blurry textures, distracting pop-in, and stuttering performance.
The critical consensus on the port was generally negative. In my review, I said: “As you might reasonably expect, environmental detail is stripped back. Unfortunately, it’s sometimes stripped back to N64-quality assets. Plantlife in the overworld is an obvious and ugly example, but everything feels like the wrong size of compromise.”
The good news is that Virtuos, the studio behind the port, is working on a sorely required performance update.
Last night, publisher Private Division tweeted: “A patch for The Outer Worlds on Nintendo Switch is in the works, and the team at Virtuos is investigating to further improve the game’s performance.
