Is 2023 about to be dubbed "The Last of Us"?

It's coming to HBO, the series has just reached 37 million units sold, and concept art for the multiplayer game has been unveiled.

The Last of Us could have a big 2023 release date.

Naughty Dog has unveiled concept art for the new multiplayer game, just as the HBO series based on the first game is due to premiere. And, as expected, the art is stunning. And insane. But largely incredible.

Here's everything we know about The Last of Us' next events:

A cruise ship appears in multiplayer concept art.
Naughty Dog, which launched the original game in 2013, shared a photo of the next multiplayer game's concept art in a blog post commemorating the franchise's tenth anniversary on Tuesday (more on that in a bit).

The artwork depicts a cruise ship that has become stranded in the middle of a city and appears to have been there for some time, since damaged buses and buildings surround it. Two figures are depicted approaching the ship.

According to Neil Druckmann, co-president of Naughty Dog, the game "is shaping up to be a fresh, new experience from our studio, but one that is steeped in Naughty Dog's love for providing fantastic stories, characters, and gameplay."

Naughty Dog has unveiled the second piece of concept art for the multiplayer game.

The initial concept art was unveiled last June, depicting two armed players on a rooftop overlooking a destroyed cityscape with a suspension bridge in the distance.

The first game included a multiplayer option called Factions, which divided players into two factions: Hunters and Fireflies. (Many people are naming the new game Factions after the old multiplayer game from 2013, but Naughty Dog hasn't used that name yet.) The objective was to keep a small handful of survivors alive.

In 2023, the series will mark its tenth anniversary.
It's difficult to believe, but The Last of Us had its PlayStation 3 debut in June 2013. From the outset, it was a major favorite of both critics and fans, praised for its plot, gameplay, and notably its horrifying images of a destroyed Earth filled with mutated, zombie-like humanity.

The story follows Joel, a man who lost his daughter decades ago to a fatal fungus that has destroyed the United States, and Ellie, a young girl who is resistant to the illness. As Joel tries to get Ellie to the Fireflies, a group working on a cure, they encounter various traumatic incidents.

The Last of Us game series has sold over 37 million copies.
According to Druckmann's blog post, The Last of Us series has sold over 37 million copies as of December 2022.

The series also contains the 2014 The Last of Us Remastered for PlayStation 4 and the same-year Left Behind extra pack, as well as Part II, which will be released in 2020.

The Last of Us Part I was released in 2022 on the PlayStation 5. It will be available for Windows PC in March.

"Knowing that Joel, Ellie, and our whole ensemble of characters have been experienced and loved by so many of you fuels the entire studio's forward momentum," Druckmann wrote.

The HBO series premieres on January 15th.
All of this is taking place as the live-action series based on the game prepares to premiere on HBO.

The Last of Us, starring Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, as well as Gabriel Luna and Anna Torv, will premiere on January 15.
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