After recording the network’s second biggest premiere of the past decade – spanking the likes of major draws like Euphoria and even Game of Thrones; but just falling short of the latter’s prequel series House of the Dragon – HBO’s The Last of Us has added another accomplishment to its name with Episode 2 ‘Infected.’
According to the Nielsen ratings, this week’s instalment spiked from 4.7 million to 5.7 million across linear airings and HBO Max streams in the US alone, which represents a tremendous 22% increase from its debut (the largest of any HBO original drama from Week 1 to Week 2). The adaptation of the hit video game franchise is now one of the fastest-growing shows in HBO history.
Needless to say, it would appear the people approve of how Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have handled this one.
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But eyeballs and universal acclaim aren’t the only metrics we can use to gauge the hype surrounding HBO’s The Last of Us.
As reported by GameIndustry.biz, boxed sales of The Last of Us Part I on PlayStation 5 have skyrocketed by an incredible 238% week-on-week, while the PlayStation 4 version The Last of Us Remastered experiencing an even more significant jump at 322% (UK figures).
Here in Australia, The Last of Us Part I on PlayStation 5 has breached the Top 30 best-selling video game charts (overall) on Amazon, trailing behind much newer releases such as God of War: Ragnarok, Hogwarts Legacy, Dead Space – PlayStation 5 Edition, as well as the Nintendo Switch title Fire Emblem Engage; coming in at #6 for the PlayStation 5 only category.
How good.
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