HBO's The Last of Us has recovered from its slight mid-season stumble after giving way for Super Bowl LVII. According to HBO, Episode 8 of The Last of Us has set a new viewership record for the live-action adaptation of the award-winning Naughty Dog franchise.
HBO's The Last of Us was a draw right from the get-go and its high production budget helped guarantee that it would stay faithful to the source material. A couple of record-setting videos later, HBO renewed it for a second season based on The Last of Us Part II, which might even go on for more seasons. And, while most expected HBO's The Last of Us to rake in the viewers, the biggest fans couldn't have expected just how big it's become.
HBO confirms that The Last of Us Episode 8 pulled in 8.1 million viewers in its premiere last Sunday, which is a 74% increase in viewership compared to the premiere episode of The Last of Us.
TLDR; more and more people are watching HBO's The Last of Us as the season goes on.
The Last of Us is already the second-biggest TV show on HBO and HBO Max, sandwiched between the reigning king, House of the Dragon, and the former ruler, Game of Thrones.
The only question now is, can The Last of Us beat House of the Dragon? According to certain viewership metrics, HBO's The Last of Us has already set a new record for HBO. The more pieces of evidence that we see that prove this is the case, the more likely we believe that it will eventually happen.
With that said, higher viewership as the season goes on is a common trend. This is especially so for a live-action adaptation of a video game, which doesn't always fare well among audiences.
Save for a minor mid-season stepback, HBO's The Last of Us has grown bigger with each new episode and the season finale should break even more records.
Make sure to check out the official preview of Episode 9 of The Last of Us, which airs on Sunday, March 12 at 9:00 PM ET / 6:00 PM PT.
