To no surprise for video game fans, the viewership for the premiere of the HBO adaption of The Last of Us was massive. Coming off the Naughty Dog games that have sold 37 million copies, the series gathered 4.7 million viewers for its Sunday (January 15) premiere. This is the biggest debut for a series on the premium cabler and its streaming companion, HBO Max, since House of the Dragon with its 9.9 million. It also is the biggest since Boardwalk Empire in 2010, with 4.8 million.
While those two flagship series outperformed the premiere of The Last of Us, the fungal zombie series still outperformed some debuts of other major shows for HBO. Euphoria season 2 was a major hit but did not reach the heights of the Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey-led series. The Zendaya-led series’ second outing saw 2.4 million last January. In the U.S., its average viewership per episode was approximately 20 million.
Sunday nights for HBO see about 20 to 40% of a series’ total viewership per episode.
The Last of Us premiere saw massive viewership numbers for HBO
Like any major HBO production, the show drew all sorts of viewers. In this case, it had plenty of eyeballs from people who experienced the video game, while others are going in with limited to no knowledge of what Naughty Dog created in 2013 with the first game and its 2020 sequel. The first season is an adaption of the first game and its add-on, Left Behind, which was a prequel to flesh out the background of one of the protagonists, Ellie (Ramsey).
The story takes 20 years into a zombie apocalypse. Joel (Pascal) and his survival partner Tess (Anna Torv) are tasked to take Ellie to meet Fireflies, a rebel group needing the girl for mysterious reasons, for a much-needed car battery with some other supplies. On their journey, they will meet other characters played by Gabriel Luna, who viewers met in the first episode as Joel’s brother Tommy, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, Troy Baker, Ashley Johnson, Jeffrey Pierce, and more.
The Last of Us premiere is the start of a nine-episode journey. It airs on HBO and is made available to stream on HBO Max every Sunday night at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET.