The Last of Us is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players assume control of Joel (Troy Baker), escorting the young Ellie (Ashley Johnson) across a post-apocalyptic United States. The game's development was led by Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann, as game director and creative director, respectively. The game was officially announced on December 10, 2011, [1] and was nominated for Most Anticipated Game at the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards. [2] Following its previews at E3 2012, the game won five awards at the Game Critics Awards, including Best of Show, [3] which it also won from several gaming publications. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
The game was released for PlayStation 3 on June 14, 2013, [9] and for PlayStation 4 as The Last of Us Remastered in July and August 2014. [10] It received "universal acclaim", according to review aggregator Metacritic, based on 98 reviews. [11] Within three weeks of its release, The Last of Us sold approximately 3.4 million copies, [12] and seven million by July 2014, becoming one of the best-selling PlayStation 3 games. [13] The game received six nominations at the Golden Joystick Awards, of which it won three, [14] and seven nominations at Spike VGX, with Baker and Johnson winning Best Voice Actor and Best Voice Actress, respectively. [15]
The Last of Us won Best Animated Video Game at the 41st Annie Awards, [16] and Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing at the 66th Writers Guild of America Awards. [17] It led the 17th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards with thirteen nominations and ten awards, including Game of the Year, [18] received five nominations at the 3rd Annual New York Game Awards, [19] of which it won the Big Apple Award for Best Game, [20] and won four of its seven nominations at the SXSW Gaming Awards, including Game of the Year. [21] [22] At the 10th British Academy Video Games Awards, The Last of Us received ten nominations and won five awards: Best Game, Action & Adventure, Audio Achievement, Performer, and Story. [23] At the 14th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards, it won Game of the Year, Best Design, and Best Narrative. [24] It received nine nominations at the 12th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards, [25] of which it won four: Audio of the Year, Sound Design of the Year, Best Audio Mix, and Best Dialogue. [26]
The game appeared on several publications' year-end lists of the best games, including The A.V. Club , [27] The Daily Telegraph , [28] GamesRadar , [29] GameTrailers , [30] GameRevolution , [31] Giant Bomb , [32] Good Game , [33] Hardcore Gamer, [34] IGN , [35] Kotaku , [36] VG247 , [37] and VideoGamer.com. [38] The Last of Us Remastered received nominations at The Game Awards 2014 and the 15th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards. [39] [40] The game was named among the best games of the 2010s by The Hollywood Reporter , [41] Mashable , [42] Metacritic, [43] and VG247, [44] and was added to the World Video Game Hall of Fame at the Strong National Museum of Play in May 2023. [45] It is often ranked among the greatest video games ever made. [46]
