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]
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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]