The Last of Us Part 1 goes gold with no crunch in PS5 development

Naughty Dog has unveiled that PS5 exclusive The Last of Us Part 1 has gone gold ahead of its upcoming release. The news comes paired with a report that no crunch was needed to develop the PlayStation Studios game.

PS5 exclusive The Last of Us Part 1 is set to release on September 2nd 2022. The news has just come in that The Last of Us Part 1 has gone gold, meaning that the game has finished production and it is playable from the start to finish. Another source revealed that no crunch was needed in the making of the game. The announcement comes not long after Naughty Dog unveiled that The Last of Us would be getting a PS5 overhaul just a few months ago.

PlayStation Studios title The Last of Us Part 1 needed no crunch

Thrilled to announce The Last of Us Part I has gone gold! 🏅✨

Congratulations to the Dogs and our partners @PlayStation who contributed their passion and talent to the growing world of #TheLastofUs! pic.twitter.com/PGd9ezWuZC
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) July 11, 2022

Even with the current 'cash grab' backlash that TLOU is currently going through, the fanbase is massive and dedicated. Both the PS3 version of The Last of Us and the PS4 version of The Last of Us Remastered have sold incredibly well, so we can assume the same for the PS5 title. In 2019 it was revealed that both versions of the game had sold a combined total of over 20 million units. It would seem that The Last of Us Part 1 is going to be adding a lot more units sold in the coming years.

With The Last of Us Part 1 reaching the gold stage, this should mean we have zero delays before release. Obviously, unexpected things can occur, so keep all those fingers crossed that we have a smooth launch for TLOU Part 1. So far we haven't seen any actual gameplay from the PS5 version of The Last of Us — only in-game cutscenes. We can assume that it won't be too long until we get a nice gameplay trailer dropping to get us all hyped up for September and the game's release.

This is the first time in my 13 year career, across multiple studios that I didn't need to crunch to finish a game. Feels good, really good. Especially hitting the same quality bar as TLOU2. More work to keep doing but proud of the big changes so far to make the studio healthier. https://t.co/gbzyHKpVbh
— Anthony Vaccaro (@vaccaro3d) July 11, 2022

The Twitter comments were flooded with congratulations from studios like Insomniac Games, Santa Monica Studio, and Team Asobi. One user that stood out amongst these companies was Anthony Vaccaro, an environmental artist who worked on The Last of Us Part 1. In the tweet, Vaccaro gushed over his experience with Naughty Dog and working on TLOU Part 1, he discusses how he didn't have to rush to finish anything while still achieving a high standard.

"This is the first time in my 13 year career, across multiple studios that I didn't need to crunch to finish a game. Feels good, really good. Especially hitting the same quality bar as TLOU2. More work to keep doing but proud of the big changes so far to make the studio healthier."

On the topic of The Last of Us Part II, the game has also seen exceptional numbers, selling over 10 million copies since its launch back in 2020. There seems to be no stopping this legendary franchise from achieving these great heights.

What do you make of this? Surprised that The Last of Us Part 1 has gone gold so soon after its announcement? Sound off in the comments below!

More The Last of Us Part I stories:

PlayStation Studios

Written by Sean Lawson

Sean is a Staff Writer with a focus on the geekiest Sony news. He writes stories about unobtainable PlayStation trophies, the best PS Plus games, as well as RPGs and Fighting games. He is also excited for Tekken 8, Dragon Age Dreadwolf, Baldur's Gate 3, and Dragon's Dogma 2 to launch on PS5. Sean’s favourite games include Mass Effect, Tomb Raider, Tekken, and Persona.