The Last of Us: The must-play video game demand has ignited to nearly 1,000 percent
The numbers really don’t lie - especially when you’re talking about the must-see HBO Max ‘The Last of Us’ series and of course going back to where it all originated - the 2013 video game. New Google Trends data show just how much people want to load up the digital masterpiece following this past Sunday’s insane finale.
The Last of Us video game demand is insanely high right now
Whether you’re a casual player or have been rocking with consoles since the 80’s - it’s all about wanting to live out some of those insane ‘The Last of Us’ moments from the series. All praises to King Casino Bonus on doing the diligent research and delivering the stats.
Fan demand for The Last of Us video game skyrocketed by 733% after the season finale of the smash HBO TV series aired last night, Google search data reveals.
The findings, pulled together by King Casino Bonus, show that The Last of Us fans are keen to give the video game a try, after the final episode of HBO’s Season 1 perfectly set up more episodes in the record-breaking series, based on the video game’s sequel.
With a second season on the TV series already having been given the green light just two episodes into the first season, fans are considering filling the gap by giving the game a go.
The TV series has been a huge success after debuting in January, having consistently seen its same-day audience numbers grow each week, with episode four’s numbers up 60% from the first episode, which saw over 4.7 million viewers tune in to watch the premiere.
The average audience for the series’ first five episodes approached close to 30 million viewers across all platforms, according to HBO, whilst episode eight attracted 8.1 million viewers - which only represents 20-40% of the show’s total gross audience per week.
Despite some fans being upset to discover that last night’s finale was the shortest episode of the series, the cliffhanger definitely increased America’s appetite for another season.
Immediately after the finale aired, Google searches for ‘The Last of Us season 2’ increased by a huge 3,233%, before gradually decreasing in interest as the evening progressed.
It also inspired an influx of interest around the original source material - The Last of Us video game from Naughty Dog, which will celebrate a decade since its release this June.
Related searches made last night point to the TV finale as the main driver behind the increased interest, with queries for ‘who plays Ellie in the last of us video game’ also rising.
Ashley Johnson - who voiced Ellie in the video games - appeared in last night’s finale in an integral role, much to fan’s delight, who were thrilled to see her in the hit show.
Other searches included ‘the last of us game ending explained’ - as last night’s season finale followed the original video game’s storyline closely - and ‘how did the last of us video game end’, as fans look to see how true the episode was to its source material.
Some states are significantly more invested in giving the video game a try than others, the data shows, with the majority of Google searches coming from these five:
Alaska
Utah
Oregon
Colorado
Washington
So, what will the second season have in store, if it follows the story of the original game’s sequel? The Last of Us Part II is set five years after The Last of Us, and follows a revenge-set Ellie and soldier Abby as they continue to navigate the apocalypse.
Joel also briefly appears in the game’s opening sequence, with him and Ellie having built a life in Jackson, Wyoming - although their relationship has become somewhat strained.
It remains to be seen how closely the TV series’ second season will stick to the game’s storyline, but fans will be pleased to hear that the story will continue either way.
Speaking on the findings, King Casino Bonus said: “After any season finale, there’s typically an uptick in interest around a second series, as fans are sad to see their favorite show head on hiatus. However, 'The Last of Us’ has easily one of the highest increases in searches we’ve seen in a while - and it’s cool to see that this includes the video game.
“The show has almost reached Game of Thrones level popularity amongst its fans after just one season, and we can’t wait to see how many more new players the series can accumulate between now and its second series - which hopefully won’t be too far away!”
