Summary
While first-party exclusives have always been important to PlayStation, with even the PS1 and the PS2 having some major exclusives, they’ve only become a vital part of the company’s core strategy in the last two decades or so, rearing its head properly with the introduction of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 era. PlayStation has spent the last 20 years establishing new IP and building up some now-hugeAAA game franchises, to the point where its current first-party line-up is so impressive that it blows Xbox out of the water, and comes surprisingly close to Nintendo. Of them all,The Last of Usis the franchise that’s usually leading the charge.
First released in 2013,The Last of Usreally marked the start of PlayStation’s new golden era for first-party exclusives, paving the way for games likeHorizon Zero Dawn,Marvel’s Spider-Man, and 2018’sGod of War. Now, a decade later,The Last of Usis still leading the charge, but in more ways than ever before.
The Last of Us Is Leading PlayStation’s First-Party Franchises Into Spin-Offs and Other Ventures
2023 Has Been a Good Year for The Last of Us
WhileThe Last of Usmay not have had a new mainline release this year, 2023 has still been a noteworthy one for the franchise, and it’s gone quite some ways in proving just how muchThe Last of Usleads the charge for the rest of PlayStation’s first-party line-up. By far the biggest piece ofLast of Usmedia to release this year was the HBO show. Striking the perfect balance between faithful adaptation and something exciting and new,HBO’sThe Last of Usdeserves all the critical acclaim it received earlier this year. It’s no wonder that season 2 has already been confirmed and is now well into development.
The Last of Us Part 1also saw a release on PC at the beginning of the year. While it launched in a poor state, it’s gradually become the game it always should have been, and is now a decent PC port of one of the best games of all time. Finally, about a month ago, Naughty Dog announced thatThe Last of Us Part 2was getting a PS5 remaster,with a handful of new modes being included in the package, all for just $10 for those who already own the game.
The Last of Us Has Laid the Groundwork for Other PlayStation First-Party Franchises
Now, it’sGod of WarandHorizon’s turn to get TV shows. Coming from Amazon and Netflix respectively, not much is currently known about theGod of WarandHorizonlive-action shows. However, it’s safe to assume that after its immense success, both of those shows will be looking closely at HBO’sThe Last of Us, using it as a basis for how to get a video game adaptation right.
ThoughGod of Warbeat it to the punch by a month,The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s No Return roguelike modewas the first one to be announced, so arguably it’s led the charge there as well. It wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if additional roguelike modes started appearing in most first-party PlayStation games moving forward, following on fromThe Last of UsandGod of War.
The Last of Uswas also ahead of the curve for PlayStation’s big push into first-party live-service territory, although that hasn’t worked out quite as well as anyone would’ve hoped. Though it’s just been canceled, the very existence of aLast of Usmultiplayer spinoff seemingly spurred on the creation ofaHorizonmultiplayer game, which is presumably still in development at Guerrilla. While not everything has worked out forThe Last of Usrecently, it’s usually the first of PlayStation’s first-party line-up to do something, and that’s probably only going to continue in the near future.
The Last of Us
WHERE TO PLAY
Experience the emotional storytelling and unforgettable characters in The Last of Us, winner of over 200 Game of the Year awards. In a ravaged civilization, where infected and hardened survivors run rampant, Joel, a weary protagonist, is hired to smuggle 14-year-old Ellie out of a military quarantine zone. However, what starts as a small job soon transforms into a brutal cross-country journey. Includes the complete The Last of Us single-player story and celebrated prequel chapter, Left Behind, which explores the events that changed the lives of Ellie and her best friend Riley forever.
