Photo Mode Contest

Photo Mode Contests are contests hosted by Naughty Dog or Sony Interactive Entertainment which have occured at various times since 2014 to promote The Last of Us series. Participants submit photos taken with Photo Mode in The Last of Us Remastered, The Last of Us Part II, or The Last of Us Part I, depending on the contest, for a chance to win various prizes.

Contests

United States (2014)

Promotional image.

Following the release of The Last of Us Remastered, Naughty Dog wanted to recognize and celebrate the talent that was being shown as players experimented with the new Photo Mode. So, they created the first Photo Mode Contest, which ran from August 15 to September 5, 2014. The contest was open to residents of the United States (excluding Arizona). To enter the contest, participants were directed to capture photos using the Photo Mode feature in The Last of Us Remastered. Participants would then submit these photos to Naughty Dog on Twitter (@Naughty_Dog). Submission tweets had to use the hashtag #TLOUPhotoModeContest and specify a category to enter the photo into. These categories were "Environmental", "Action", and "Character".

From the thousands of entries, the winners of each category, and a Grand Prize winner, were announced on The Last of Us Day 2014. The winners, identified by their Twitter handles, were @stoicdies (Grand Prize), @vFIXXXERv (Environmental), @conz8000 (Action), and @Jd8531 (Character). Additional honorable mentions were given to @luiscarrion87, @MahmoudHamo1, @Harperion24, @KevinArtan, @NotIsrael, and @adampseal. Winning participants received a poster, of their winning image, signed by the Naughty Dog development team, a Joel and Ellie statuette (previously only available in The Last of Us Post Pandemic Edition), a digital copy of The Art of The Last of Us book by Dark Horse, and more.

United States and Canada (2019)

Promotional Image featuring the poster prizes.

The 2019 contest, announced on The Last of Us Day 2019, coincided with The Last of Us Remastered being part of the PlayStation Plus lineup for the month of October. The contest ran from October 1 to November 1, 2019, with a winner being chosen every Friday. The contest was open to residents of the United States (excluding Arizona) and Canada (excluding Quebec).To enter the contest, participants were directed to capture photos using the Photo Mode feature in The Last of Us Remastered. Participants would then submit these photos to Naughty Dog along with their name, address, and date of birth. Naughty Dog staff would select one winner every Friday starting on October 4 and ending on November 1. Winners were announced on Naughty Dog's social media accounts and on their website.

Only the first names of the winners were publicly released. The winners of the contest were Zachary (Oct. 4), Mohammed (Oct. 11), Christopher (Oct. 18), Christine (Oct. 25), and Adrienne (Nov. 1). Winning participants would receive limited edition posters from the previous three years' The Last Of Day. Specifically, the prize was a set of three posters, which were signed by the development team at Naughty Dog.

Australia (2020)

On July 2, 2020, Sony Interactive Entertainment Australia announced on Twitter that they would be hosting a Photo Mode Contest for The Last of Us Part II which would run from July 3 to July 17, 2020. Open to residents of Australia aged 18 and older, participants were directed to uploaded their "best photo mode creations" from Part II to Twitter with the hashtag #TLOU2 and tagging @PlayStationAU. From the entries, two winners would receive an Ellie Edition of The Last of Us Part II and 20 runners-up would receive a collection of The Last of Us Part II themed items including a lanyard, baseball cap, t-shirt, notebook, tote bag, and hoodie.

The two winners, identified by their twitter handles, were @itsRyanUnicomb and @CritterOfHabit. The runners-up were @CassieDakota_, @Lochlan_Miller, @PrinceJagaimo, @Jacobi_VP, @Nic_Sushi, @jonathans89, @randomjessa2, @Ahhzyn, @xXRariiXx, @Chrisio88, @DanielMcLean40, @Peteman77, @TheNightOwler, @stinky_pole, @coalabr14, @LukeLikesGames, @LukeTheMorgz, @Jimmyrii66, @evamike33, and @opticalparallax.

United States and Canada (2020)

Promotional image.

The contest was announced as part of the preview for The Last of Us Day 2020. It ran from October 1 to October 30, 2020, with four winners being chosen every Friday starting on the 9th. To enter the contest, participants were directed to capture photos using the Photo Mode feature in The Last of Us Part II. Participants would then submit these photos to Naughty Dog along with their name, address, and date of birth. Naughty Dog staff would select one Grand Prize winner and three runners-up (referred to as First Prize in the Terms and Conditions) every Friday starting on October 9 and ending on October 30. Winners were announced on Naughty Dog's social media accounts and on their website. Judging of submissions was based on the following criteria: creativity 60%, originality 30%, and brand awareness 10%.

The four Grand Prize winners were Daniel K. (Oct. 9), Casey L. (Oct. 16), Theo H. (Oct. 23), and Allie T. (Oct. 30). The runners-up were Ariana M., Christian B., and Omar K. for week 1; Manny G., Radovan S., and Nicholas M. for week 2, Zachary S., Marlon M., and James C. for week 3; and Ben P., Szewai H., and Marybeth W. for week 4. The four Grand Prize winners each received a copy of The Ellie Edition of Last of Us Part II. The twelve runners-up each received a Limited Edition The Last of Us Part II DUALSHOCK®4 Wireless Controller. Additionally, the Photo Mode submissions of all sixteen winners were featured on Naughty Dog’s Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram page.

Spain (2020)

Promotional image.

Hosted by Sony Interactive Entertainment España, the contest was announced on October 23, 2020 on the official The Last Of Us España Facebook page. Residents of Spain aged 18 and older could participate by following The Last Of Us España on Facebook, sharing the announcement post, and commenting with a screenshot from The Last of Us Part II with their favorite Photo Mode filter applied. There was no limit on the number of screenshots participants could submit. The contest ran from October 23 to October 29, with a single winner chosen at random to receive an Ellie Edition of The Last of Us Part II. On October 30, the announcement post was updated, declaring Javi Perez the winner.

Other Photo Mode events

Photo Mode events are like Photo Mode Contests in that participants submit photos captured using Photo Mode in one of the games from The Last of Us series. However, they differ in that no prizes are awarded.

Brazil (2014)

In August 2014, Sony Interactive Entertainment Brazil announced the start of #DesafioPlayStation (in English: #PlayStationContest). The announcement stated that each week, beginning on August 8, a new contest would be posted. The contest for the first week (August 8-15) was to capture screenshots, using Photo Mode, that exemplified tension in The Last of Us Remastered. Participants could enter by posting images on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter with the hashtag #DesafioPlayStation. The fifteen (miss-stated as ten in the announcement) best submissions were published by @PlayStationBR on Facebook, and the best submission was shared on Instagram by @playstation_br. There were no prizes. The first place winner was Leonardo Theodoro.

Worldwide (2021)

The 2021 Photo Mode event was announced on The Last of Us Day 2021 and applied to The Last of Us Part II. This event was branded as "Weekly Photo Mode Challenges" and as a "Photo Mode Community Event" instead of a true contest, as no prizes were awarded. The event ran from September 26 to October 29, 2021. To enter the event, participants were directed to capture photos using the Photo Mode feature in The Last of Us Part II. Each week, Naughty Dog would announce a theme on their blog and on Twitter. Participants would then upload theme-appropriate photos to Twitter with the hashtag #TLOUPhotoMode and tag @Naughty_Dog. Naughty Dog staff would then share some of their favorites on both Twitter and the Naughty Dog blog. The themes, in order, were "Fortitude/Strength", "Close Up/Details", "Rage", "Nature Prevails", and "A Moment Of Peace". The Twitters users, in order, recognized on the Naughty Dog blog each week were @PoachiiN, @EclipsedFantasy, @Photoingame, @eveygamephoto, and @MindJackedJimmy.

Worldwide (2022)

On Friday, September 23, 2022, Naughty Dog posted on their Twitter and Instagram accounts asking the virtual photography community to share their favorite Photo Mode shots from The Last of Us series, using the hashtag #TLOUPhotoMode. On The Last of Us Day 2022 at 1:30 p.m. EDT, Naughty Dog released a community album on their blog including 19 community submissions. Additionally, members of the Naughty Dog studio shared their own Photo Mode tips and photos, including Senior Cinematographer Ryan Chan, Senior Game Designer Derek Chatwood, and QA tester Joy Liberatore.

The Twitter users who were featured in the community album were @coalabr14, @Ceraphyte, @1saiahmercado, @EclipsedFantasy, @fearnefilms, @KMBsVP, @nahHermes (featured twice), @NotTheBadTrump (featured twice), @Photoingame, @TheJules13, and @YouSpoonyBardd. The featured Instagram users were @andre_revolution, @amaphotomode, @gazdous (featured twice), @jgoring90, and @tlou_photos.

Worldwide (2023)

On January 16, 2023, Naughty Dog posted on Twitter and Instagram asking "survivors" to submit their best Photo Mode recreations of scenes from the first two episodes of HBO's The Last of Us. Participants are to take photos in The Last of Us Part I and upload them to Twitter or Instagram tagging @Naughty_Dog/@Naughty_Dog_Inc and using the hashtag #TLOUPhotoMode. Submission were accepted until January 25. On January 27, Naughty Dog uploaded a collection of their 13 favorite submission on their blog. The winners, identified by their social media handles, were @Johnnie_Talkie, @Sarokeye, @Solemist, @Dash_845, @Quelbia94, @VRPhotoGamess, @CaliSarah1998, @Coalabr14, @RevolutionAndre, @Jules_vp_, and @Lucaslu_ckli on Twitter and @Groovighost and @EclipsedFantasy on Instagram. At the conclusion of the blog post, Naught Dog announced that the next challenge would cover episodes 3 though 6, with the same submission rules applying.

On January 30, Naughty Dog tweeted about the episode 3-6 challenge and clarified that submissions would close February 22 and that they would wait until after episode 6 to share their favorites. On February 24, Naughty Dog uploaded a collection of their 15 favorite submission on their blog. The winners, identified by their social media handles, were @KMBvsVP, ENfamily_gt77, @GSMind89, @Sarokeye, @Simon0aVp, @iShouldGoN7, @calisarah1998, @Mett981, @HyKirley, @OuterRimsPhoto, and @_LastGlass_ on Twitter and @evanescentpixel, @wingsforgames, @EclipsedFantasy, and @videogameflicks on Instagram. At the conclusion of the blog post, Naught Dog announced that the next challenge would cover episodes 7 though 9, with the same submission rules applying.

On March 1, Naughty Dog tweeted about the episode 7-9 challenge and clarified that submissions would close March 15. On March 17, Naughty Dog uploaded a collection of their 16 favorite submission from episodes 7 through 9 on their blog. The winners, identified by their twitter handles, were @discophotomode, @EclipsedFantasy, @ForgottenJasmin, @HyKirley, @i3ecci_, @jabivgp, @photoingame, @RevolutionAndre, @Simon0aVp, @souchan1235, @TheFourthFocus, @tlou_captures, @VPPops, @vrphotogamess, @XxPAGZxX, and @OuterRimsPhoto.

See also

• PlayStation 4 Photo & Movie Share Contest - Photo Mode was featured as one of the categories in the PlayStation 4 Photo & Movie Share Contest hosted by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2014.