If you don’t have an HBO Max subscription but want to see what all the fuss is about when it comes to The Last of Us TV series, you’re in luck. In an unusual move, the streaming service has made the first episode of the new hit show free to watch.
Currently heading into its third episode, HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation garnered roughly 10 million viewers in its first two days, putting it on par with House of the Dragon, the long-awaited prequel to Game of Thrones. Debuting each Sunday night, the episodes are normally gated behind HBO’s cable and streaming subscriptions, the latter of which costs $15 a month without ads.
So far, HBO’s take on The Last Of Us, co-created by Chernobyl mini-series writer Craig Mazin and the game’s original lead writer, Neil Druckmann, has largely been a faithful recreation of the source material in some ways, while deviating in others. If you’re reading this post, it’s probably because you haven’t seen the show yet, so I won’t get into spoilers. Suffice it to say there’s plenty to talk about, meaning that a decade, one sequel, and two remasters later, The Last Of Us continues to dominate the conversation around storytelling in games and beyond.
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And while HBO has made series premiers available for free in the past, most notably House of the Dragon, it’s also a fitting complement to the video game origins of the TV show The Last of Us. Free demos to get you interested in the latest games are back in vogue, and PlayStation’s own subscription service, PS Plus, now even includes free two-hour trials for lots of games. The game itself, meanwhile, has reportedly seen a wild boost in new sales following the HBO adaptation’s release.
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Despite that enduring success, however, Druckmann recently said in an interview that The Last of Us Part III isn’t guaranteed. Naughty Dog is currently working on a multiplayer-only spin-off of the series and might not return to it afterwards. We’ll see. For now you can catch up on the show with our episode one and two recaps.