The Last of Us Part 1 sales flounder as PS5 owners wait for God of War

The Last of Us Part 1's flagging UK sales suggest PS5 owners are waiting for Sony to release more original PlayStation Studio titles like God of War Ragnarok, rather than picking up another PlayStation remake.

Update: The Last of Us Part 1 physical sales have floundered in the UK after only three weeks of sale, despite a considerable lack of competition and an ever-growing audience of PS5 owners. The Last of Us Part 1's weak sales suggest PS5 players are waiting for God of War Ragnarok and other original PlayStation Studio titles, rather than opting to support Sony's PS5 remake strategy.

Oh, no.

New PS5 players opt for Horizon, God of War over The Last of Us Part 1

According to sales data reported by Metro, after debuting at the top of the UK physical sales chart with half the buyers of notable sales flop Saints Row, The Last of Us Part 1 has continued to hold tight to a top 10 spot three weeks on. This would usually indicate relative success for a AAA title on the still widely unavailable PS5 hardware had September 2022 not been so devoid of competition for Naughty Dog's second The Last of Us remake.

Instead, The Last of Us Part 1 slipped to fourth place just a week after launch, falling behind the months-older Horizon Forbidden West and with Saints Row's ninth place landing indicating just how low game sales across the board were that week. The following week, The Last of Us Part 1 took up tenth place, behind Horizon, NBA 2K23, and even the years-old GTA V — a show of just how few new games were competing for the top spot that week, and how low The Last of Us Part 1's sales must have been.

Busted.

Horizon Forbidden West physical sales are as much an indicator of the PS5's strength as the game itself, as physical copies of the title have been consistently bundled with Sony's latest console. That means a surge of new PS5 owners has just emerged, and yet between the new owners and the old, The Last of Us Part 1 does not have the strength to compete with even the low-lying evergreen sales of Grand Theft Auto — suggesting our suspicions about Sony's remake strategy failing in our original story were largely correct.

Instead, audiences seem to be waiting for something more original, like the impending God of War Ragnarok. The new God of War Ragnarok trailer likely left as much an impression on PS5 owners as its file size will leave a dent in your console's memory, and rather than jump aboard a remake of an older title, PS5 owners are likely choosing to wait for the next big AAA PlayStation game instead.

You were warned.

This year, Horizon had to contend with Pokémon Legends Arceus to take the top spot in the UK — Gran Turismo 7 had to beat Elden Ring and WWE 2K22 and it did it at least twice for the number one spot (no wonder it took a spot on our best PlayStation racing games list). The fact that The Last of Us Part 1 struggled to hold even first place for a second week against the likes of the five-year-old Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a figure that should give Sony some food for thought in terms of strategy going forward. Let us know in the comments your thoughts on this latest round of sales data.

Original Story: The Last of Us Part 1 topped the UK physical game sales charts this week after a single day — a feat that might have looked impressive had this been a week of particularly strong competition, or if we didn't expect at least this much from a PS5 exclusive from a PlayStation Studio. Instead, The Last of Us Part 1's weak sales suggest a waning interest in Sony's PS5 remake strategy.

The Last of Us Part 1 sales suggest fans want new PS5 games

News of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us remake and its flagging UK performance comes via gamesindustry.biz, who noted that the game sold roughly half as much as the Saints Row reboot did last week, before admitting that Saints Row had four days of sales figures compared to The Last of Us Part 1's single day of sales before the weekly chart tallied up the comparison. Still, given how quickly Saints Row dropped to sixth place this week, this doesn't bode well at all for how few physical copies Part 1 actually sold.

While we've certainly praised the game in our The Last of Us Part 1 review, we also had to ask whether the remake is actually worth our money — especially considering it's the third re-release of The Last of Us in 9 years and PS5 owners can claim a free copy of The Last of Us Remastered via PS Plus Essential.

It draws Sony's strategy in question in terms of its PS5 releases as players are currently overwhelmingly spoiled for choice when it comes to PS5 remakes and remasters. Games like Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered, Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut, Death Stranding Director's Cut, Demons' Souls — not to mention all the games from third-party publishers like Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade and Persona 5 Royal — have all conspired to drown Sony's latest console in previously available content. Plus, with most of these titles being available on PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium, it's no surprise most PlayStation fans are questioning the need to go out and buy another PS5 remake the week it gets released.

Despite an ongoing lack of availability, the PS5 has continued to see successful launches with its original games this year, with Horizon Forbidden West physical sales exceeding expectations thanks to pack-in bundles, as well as Gran Turismo 7 seeing the series' best launch figures to date — befitting of one of PlayStation's best racing games. Chances are, given how Sony are going hard enough on marketing to pair God of War Ragnarok with Rick and Morty, we're also sure to see a massive influx of sales for this year's tentpole original game release.

So, the problem likely lies with Sony's oversaturating of the PS5 with remasters and remakes — a strategy that, by now, must surely be having the PlayStation maker consider going back to the drawing board. If you did pick up The Last of Us Part 1, good luck with the game's speedrun mode and tackling its hardest trophy — let us know why you jumped aboard this time around in the comments below.

More The Last of Us Part I stories:

PlayStation 5

Written by Lee Brady

Staff Writer Lee keeps one eye on the future (Marvel's Spider-Man 2), one eye on the past (PS Plus Premium, recent Sony news), and his secret third eye on the junk he really likes (Sonic Superstars, Final Fantasy XVI). Then he uses his big mouth to blurt out long-winded opinions about video games.