HBO’s The Last of Us season one will air its final episode this Sunday, but its impact will be felt long after. Specifically, other studios will now look to the television series as the benchmark for their own video game adaptations.
Cory Balrog, the director of the action-adventure video game series God of War, revealed that The Last of Us adaptation’s resounding success is putting no small amount of pressure on Amazon Prime Video’s adaptation of God of War. Balrog is also the executive director for the God of War television adaptation and he revealed his sentiments while responding to a fan tweet.
truly amazing, humbling and inspiring work that fills me with joy + happiness for all who made it.
and no small amount of pressure, frustration and a wee bit of jealousy that it is SO FUCKING GOOD.
seriously, what they are achieving is god damn MONUMENTAL. so proud of them.❤️
— cory barlog (@corybarlog) March 1, 2023
The Last of Us, the television adaptation of the popular Naughty Dog video game, has been well-received by critics as well as audiences. It has a 96% critics approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and enjoyed HBO’s second-biggest debut since 2010 with 4.7 million viewers. The show’s latest episode further cemented its status as something to watch as it pulled 8.1 million viewers – a 74% increase in viewership from its debut episode.
Given its success, it was no surprise that HBO renewed it for a second season.
Despite the pressure and the "wee bit of jealousy" he admitted to feeling, Balrog expressed his joy and awe at the fact that HBO has been able to bring the adaptation to life successfully. He stated, "seriously, what they are achieving is god damn MONUMENTAL. so proud of them."
Given that both God of War and The Last of Us belong to Sony’s PlayStation brand, Balrog’s equal part jealousy and joy is understandable. However, fans of the God of War series will be hoping that the games’ shared heritage also serves as motivation for the Santa Monica Studio creative director to help deliver an equally incredible adaptation of the game.
One of the reasons for the success of The Last of Us is how true it stayed to the source material and it's something Prime Video has promised to follow.
With all of these factors put together, alongside the fact that the platform's other adaptations like The Boys and Invincible, have been excellent, it has a good shot at doing God of War justice.
By the way, fans of The Last of Us game series will be glad to learn that Naughty Dog is developing a third installment of the game series. According to a gaming industry insider, DomTheBomb, the game will release on the PS5 but with the PS6 in mind. Dom further revealed that the game might be available as early as 2026.
Meanwhile, the latest entry in the God of War series, God of War: Ragnarok, was one of the biggest things in the gaming industry last year. The game was the second highest-rated title last year behind FromSoftware’s Elden Ring, as well as one of the best-selling games. In February, Sony made the title available for PS Plus Premium subscribers on a free trial.
