The Last of Us Explained: The Games, the HBO Series, and Why It Matters

Some stories stay with you long after the credits roll. The Last of Us is one of them. It started in 2013 as a PlayStation 3 game about a smuggler and a teenage girl crossing a ruined America, and it has grown into one of the most acclaimed franchises in entertainment, with a hit HBO series that many critics call the best video game adaptation ever made.

Whether you’re a longtime fan or you’ve only seen the show, this guide covers everything: the games, the characters, the HBO series and the best order to experience it all. (We’ll keep major spoilers light, but the plot summaries below do discuss the first game’s ending.)

The Basics: What Is The Last of Us?

The Last of Us is an action-adventure series created by Naughty Dog, the studio behind Crash Bandicoot and Uncharted, and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic United States after a mutated Cordyceps fungus turns its hosts into aggressive, cannibalistic creatures.

The games are played from a third-person view and mix tense stealth, scavenging and crafting, and desperate combat against both infected creatures and other humans. At their heart, though, they’re character stories. The franchise had sold over 37 million games as of January 2023.

The Last of Us (2013)

The first game was led by game director Bruce Straley and creative director Neil Druckmann, and it was released for PS3 on June 14, 2013.

Twenty years after losing his daughter Sarah when the outbreak began, Joel is tasked with escorting Ellie, a teenage girl who is immune to the infection, across the country so that a revolutionary group called the Fireflies can try to create a cure. Over the journey, the two grow close. In Salt Lake City, Joel learns that the surgery to make a cure would kill Ellie. He fights his way into the operating room, kills the lead surgeon and carries her to safety, then lies to her that the attempt to find a cure had failed.

That ending is one of the most debated in gaming. Druckmann has described the game as a coming-of-age story for Ellie and an exploration of how far a father will go to save his child. The game won numerous Game of the Year awards and is regularly ranked among the greatest video games ever made. Joel and Ellie were played by Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson.

Left Behind (2014) and Remastered (2014)

The Left Behind expansion came out on February 14, 2014. Set before the main game, it follows Ellie and her best friend Riley over one night in an abandoned Boston mall, and it’s one of the most moving chapters in the series. In July 2014, The Last of Us Remastered brought the game and Left Behind to PS4. By April 2018, the original and Remastered had sold 17 million copies combined.

The Last of Us Part II (2020)

After pandemic-related delays, The Last of Us Part II was released for PS4 on June 19, 2020. Druckmann directed it and co-wrote the story with Halley Gross. It reportedly cost around US$220 million to develop, making it one of the most expensive games ever made, and development reportedly involved crunch with 12-hour workdays.

Set four years after the first game, Part II has two playable leads: Ellie, who sets out for revenge after Joel is murdered, and Abby, a soldier who killed Joel and who is caught up in a war between her militia and a religious cult called the Seraphites. Ellie and her girlfriend Dina head to Seattle to track Abby down, and the story then shows events from Abby’s point of view, challenging players to understand the “other side.”

It was divisive among players but won more than 320 Game of the Year awards, and it had sold over 10 million copies by June 2022. A PS5 version, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, followed in January 2024, and a Windows version in April 2025.

The Last of Us Part I (2022)

In September 2022, Naughty Dog released The Last of Us Part I, a remake of the original game for PS5 (with a Windows version in March 2023) featuring revised combat and exploration, expanded accessibility options and a remade Left Behind. It’s the best-looking way to play the first story today, and it had sold over two million units by March 2024.

The HBO Series (2023–present)

HBO’s The Last of Us was created by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann. It premiered on January 15, 2023, with Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie.

Season 1

The nine-episode first season, filmed in Alberta, Canada, adapts the first game. It took a few big swings away from its source, most famously the third episode, centered on survivalists Bill and Frank (Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett), which critics overwhelmingly considered the season’s best. Several reviewers called it the best video game adaptation yet. The premiere was watched by almost 40 million viewers within two months across linear TV and HBO Max, and the season averaged almost 32 million viewers per episode, making it HBO’s most-watched debut season. It earned 24 Primetime Emmy nominations, and the series has won nine Primetime Emmy Awards overall. Gustavo Santaolalla, the games’ composer, co-wrote the score with David Fleming.

Season 2

The seven-episode second season premiered on April 13, 2025. It adapts the first half of Part II, with Joel and Ellie settled in Jackson, Wyoming, alongside Joel’s brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and Ellie’s friends Dina (Isabela Merced) and Jesse (Young Mazino), before the hunt for Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) in Seattle. It averaged almost 37 million viewers per episode within two months. Reviews praised its performances and themes, though some critics felt it was weaker than the first season.

Season 3

HBO renewed the series for a third season on April 9, 2025, before season two even premiered. Season 3 will focus on Abby and introduce the Seraphites Yara and Lev (Michelle Mao and Kyriana Kratter). Filming in British Columbia runs from March to November 2026, with the season expected in 2027. Behind the scenes, Druckmann and Gross stepped away from the show in July 2025 to focus on other projects, leaving Mazin as sole showrunner.

Beyond Games and TV

The franchise has also expanded into a 2013 comic book, a live show in 2014, a haunted house at Universal Studios in 2023 (where Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson recorded new dialogue) and a tabletop game by Themeborne in 2024.

Where Should Beginners Start?

1. Play The Last of Us Part I on PS5 (or Remastered on PS4), including the Left Behind chapter.
2. Watch HBO’s Season 1. Even if you’ve played the game, it adds new perspectives.
3. Play The Last of Us Part II (the Remastered version on PS5 includes extra modes).
4. Watch Season 2, then wait for Season 3 in 2027.

Prefer TV first? That’s fine too. The show is designed for newcomers, and the games will still surprise you.

Final Thoughts

The Last of Us showed that a video game could tell a story as powerful as any film or novel, and the HBO series proved that story could reach a whole new audience. It’s a franchise about love, loss and the terrible choices people make for each other, and it’s a must-experience part of PlayStation history.

Did you play the game first or watch the show first? Let us know in the comments!