The Last of Us on HBO: It's the future of game-to-screen goodness

The Last of Us is a big-budget, star-studded, well-shot and well-performed story that sticks to its videogame roots while expanding and updating the game’s universe

You know a show is popular when even the Oscars cannot upstage you online. For every Monday for the past nine weeks, #TheLastOfUs has been trending on Twitter, because seemingly everyone everywhere has been doing the same thing Sunday night — tune into the most talked-about TV show on the planet (yet another winner for HBO, home to Game of Thrones and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver). Based on the superhit video game of the same name, the show (streaming on Disney+Hotstar in India) follows Joel (Pedro Pascal), a smuggler tasked with transporting teenager Ellie (Bella Ramsay) across a post-apocalyptic American landscape. The country has been ravaged by a mystery fungal infection that transforms the infected person into a zombie-like creature crazed by bloodlust—except Ellie seems to be immune to the infection.

Every new episode, it seems, was an event and the craze behind the show would begin all over again. Episode Three, with its beautiful and sensitive depiction of a long-term relationship between two men, Bill (played by Parks & Recreation star Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett). Episode Four introduced us to the fierce and fabulous Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey from Yellowjackets), who quickly became a fan favourite. And earlier on Sunday, with Episode Nine (the season finale), we got a heart-wrenching, emotionally charged scene between Ellie and her mother Anna. When a tearful Anna tells her daughter, “You fuckin’ tell ‘em, Ellie”, I wager there wasn’t a single dry eye among fans. What made the moment extra special was that Ellie’s mom is played by Ashley Johnson, who voices Ellie in the video game.

There are solid reasons behind the runaway success of The Last of Us. It’s a big-budget, star-studded, well-shot and well-performed story that sticks to its videogame roots while expanding and updating the game’s universe. Another big factor is HBO’s understanding of ‘water-cooler’ TV—shows that we collectively become invested in to the point that referring to it becomes an ice-breaker in offices, parties and so on. While Netflix and co. have scrambled around trying to reinforce binge-watching habits in viewers, HBO shows have stuck to the idea of keeping media attention on a simmer across several weeks.

But really, the biggest takeaway from The Last of Us and its untrammelled success is that it shows us the future of streaming—gaming fans are the next big market streamers are trying to capture. Recently, Netflix founder and former CEO Reed Hastings said, during an interview with New York Times, “We want the brain to be the most exciting entertainment on Earth, the place you go when you really want emotional stimulation. For us, that’s around film, series, and games. In two of those, we’re strong. And we’re just beginning in games.”

Every new episode of The Last of Us, it seems, was an event and the craze behind the show would begin all over again. (Image: HBO)

What was Hastings referring to? In the last quarter of 2022, Netflix announced over a dozen new mobile games. Among them was a brand-new deal with gaming giants Ubisoft, the makers of superhit game Assassin’s Creed. According to the deal, Ubisoft will create three new mobile games for Netflix, expanding the Valiant Hearts, Mighty Quest and Assassin's Creed universes, respectively. And as Black Mirror: Bandersnatch proved, Netflix is not averse to gamifying its existing shows and films as well (in Bandersnatch, viewers could choose the trajectory or storyline they wanted to pursue, a kind of make-your-own-adventure story).

And arguably, Netflix is late on the ball in this context. Already, the Apple App Store generates over 70 per cent of its revenue through mobile games. 30 per cent of every subscription and in-app purchase goes to Apple; the commission reduces to 15 per cent after a year (or if the total revenue generated by the game is under a million dollars). And now, with Apple Arcade, the tech giant is putting that dominance to good use — for $4.99 a month they’re offering you a bouquet of videogames you can play across Apple devices. In December, Amazon launched Prime Gaming in India. This is a collection of free games updated every month—Prime users can simply search for Prime Gaming in the “Library” section of their accounts.

The Last of Us shows Joel (Pedro Pascal) as a smuggler tasked with transporting teenager Ellie (Bella Ramsay) across a post-apocalyptic American landscape. (Image: HBO)

Every major streaming or tech company in the world wants a piece of that videogame pie, and the overwhelming success of The Last of Us is just the latest symptom. Last year may have been a bad one for video game adaptations (we’re looking at you, Underworld: Welcome to Raccoon City) but with a second season now confirmed for The Last of Us, gaming nerds can look forward to more game-to-screen goodness in the days ahead.