It took just one episode for ‘The Last of Us’ sales to explode

Joel and Ellie’s adventures through a dystopian, zombie-infested landscape have been thrust back into the zeitgeist, and the creator Neil Druckmann and developers Naughty Dog seem to be profiting from both versions of the franchise.

The Last of Us dropped the incredibly accurate game-to-TV adaptation that’s brought a breath of life back into the games. While it was already an undeniably polished and popular franchise before the TV show, the adaptation has increased sales dramatically. 

Since the premier of the first episode, which landed on HBO on Monday, Jan. 16, the first game in the series has climbed the charts and TLOU Twitch viewership has spiked. According to GamesIndustry.biz, The Last of Us Part 1 saw a 238 percent spike in title sales “week-on-week” in the UK alone via boxed sales.

The Last of Us: Remastered on the PlayStation 4 made an appearance on the charts, with a 322 percent sales spike. It landed at number 20 on the UK Boxed Charts, however, couldn’t compete with the likes of FIFA 23, God of War: Ragnarök, and Nintendo’s Fire Emblem Engage. 

While the title isn’t at the top of the Boxed Charts just yet—it may get there after episode two—sales on Amazon have been skyrocketing over the past week. Both titles in the TLOU series have been in the top five best-selling games on the platform.

We’ll just have to wait to see if ep two can cause as big of a wave as the first.