The Last of Us Day (formerly Outbreak Day) is a day commemorated by Naughty Dog each year to celebrate The Last of Us. It occurs each year on September 26, which is the day the outbreak reached critical mass in the game's narrative. Naughty Dog celebrates the day by releasing new content and merchandise such as free PSN avatars and limited-edition posters.
Name change[]
The announcement image
On September 22, 2020, Naughty Dog announced on their official social media accounts that Outbreak Day would be rebranded as "The Last of Us Day" in an effort to be more conscientious of the events and challenges of the past year surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The name change became effective on September 26, 2020. The announcement was posted as an image with the hashtag #TheLastofUsDay on all platforms.[1][2][3]
History[]
2013[]
On the first annual The Last of Us Day, Naughty Dog invited fans on Twitter to describe their experience (real or not) of how they'd survive the pandemic using the hashtag #OutbreakDay and Naughty Dog retweeted their favorites throughout the day. Additionally, Naughty Dog released behind-the-scenes footage of the musical "alternate ending" to the public complete with rendering and commentary by Game Director Neil Druckmann.[4]
2014[]
The limited-edition Clicker bust.
On the second annual The Last of Us Day, Naughty Dog announced the winners of the 2014 Photo Mode Contest. Additionally, Naughty Dog unveiled a limited edition Clicker Statue that would later become available for purchase on Naughty Dog's web store.[5] The statue was hand-sculpted by Hollywood VFX artist Vincent Van Dyke. 1,500 units were made available at $150 each.[6]
2015[]
For the third annual The Last of Us Day, Naughty Dog revealed another Clicker statue, this time produced by Gaming Heads. The statue was available for pre-order in two editions: regular and exclusive (which featured a gas mask on the clicker). In addition to the statue, Naughty Dog also announces a global PSN sale on select The Last of Us content. The sale ran from September 23 until October 7, 2015. Lastly, a new PS4 dynamic theme, featuring the fungal growth from the game's title sequence and melodies of Gustavo Santaolalla, was made available at $0.99 for a limited time.[7]
2016[]
Promotional image.
For the fourth annual The Last of Us Day, Naughty Dog collaborated with Mondo to create a limited edition poster inspired by The Last of Us. Each poster was hand-numbered and signed by artist Kevin Tong. Posters were available for purchase on MondoTees.com. In addition to the poster, Naughty Dog ran a week-long sale on the PlayStation Store and a 20% off sale on The Last of Us apparel and collectibles on the PlayStation Gear Store.[8]
2017[]
Promotional image.
To celebrate the fifth annual The Last of Us Day, Naughty Dog released a brand-new The Last of Us Part II poster, new PS4 system theme, and t-shirt, as well as hosting a week of sales on select The Last of Us content on the PlayStation Store. Like with the previous year, Naughty Dog collaborated with Mondo and artist Kevin Tong to create the poster. The poster, unlike in the previous year, was a timed-release in which it was available for purchase for a limited time as opposed to being limited in quantity. The poster was available on MondoTees.com from September 26–29, 2017. The new PS4 dynamic theme featured imagery from the world-reveal trailer of The Last of Us Part II. Specifically, it featured an overgrown neighborhood street and firefly graffiti on a stop sign.[9]
2018[]
To commemorate the sixth annual The Last of Us Day, Naughty Dog collaborated with Mondo to release another limited edition poster, designed by Sam Wolfe Connelly, and re-release the original The Last of Us soundtrack on vinyl in two volumes.[10] The poster sold for $50 and the vinyl was sold for $35 per volume on Mondo's website.[11][12][13] A new set of The Last of Us Part II wallpapers were released, as well as The Last of Us Stickers for Apple devices. A new theme song from The Last of Us Part II called “The Last of Us (Cycles)” by Gustavo Santaolalla (previously performed live at E3 2018) was released digitally. Additionally, a new The Last of Us Part II dynamic system theme for PS4 and a collection of PS4 avatars were made available for free from September 26 until 9:00 am PT, September 27 on the PlayStation Store. The PlayStation Store also offered discounts on The Last of Us Remastered and other The Last of Us DLC through October 2, 2018. Lastly, Coin Clothing released a new T-shirt design featuring Ellie's tattoo from The Last of Us Part II.[10]
2019[]
- Main article: The Last of Us Day 2019
To celebrate the seventh annual The Last of Us Day 2019, Naughty Dog unveiled a massive line-up of content. They released a new free PS4 system theme titled "The Last of Us Part II Grunge Theme". Naughty Dog announced a 50% off sale on all existing The Last of Us Part II PS4 system themes and avatars on the PlayStation Store. This sale ran from September 26 to October 1, 2019. Naughty Dog released a Part II Ellie Cosplay Guide. The guide featured high-resolution renders and insights about every aspect of Ellie’s character design. Naughty Dog released new The Last of Us Part II merchandise on the PlayStation Gear store. In collaboration with Dark Horse, Naughty Dog created a limited edition statue of Ellie and an official art book titled The Art of The Last of Us Part II. The statue was available for pre-order starting that day, and the art book became available for pre-order on September 30, 2019. Lastly, Naughty Dog announced the month-long 2019 The Last of Us Remastered Photo Mode Contest.[14]
2020[]
- Main article: The Last of Us Day 2020
For the eighth annual The Last of Us Day, Naughty Dog released a new PS4 system theme, an Abby cosplay guide, and a set of ten The Last of Us Part II inspired GIFs. Naughty Dog also collaborated with Mondo, Gaming Heads, Mamegyorai, Kojima Productions, CMON, and Graph to release new posters, statues, apparel, and other merchandise.[15]
2021[]
- Main article: The Last of Us Day 2021
For the ninth annual The Last of Us Day, new content released for the series included a vinyl and digital release of The Last of Us Part II: Covers and Rarities, a Part II Joel statue from Dark Horse, Part II accessories and guitars by Taylor Guitars, and Part II homewares and apparel from the PlayStation Gear Store.[16] Additionally, HBO unveiled the first official production still from the upcoming television series.[17]
2022[]
- Main article: The Last of Us Day 2022
For the tenth annual The Last of Us Day, Naughty Dog released a new GIF drop, a The Last of Us Part I wallpaper, and a Photo Mode community album.[18] HBO released an official teaser trailer for the upcoming television series.[19] Additionally, new merchandise was released on the PlayStation Gear Store,[20] and Music On Vinyl announced pre-orders for limited edition The Last of Us Original Soundtrack vinyl records.
2023[]
- Main article: The Last of Us Day 2023
References[]
- ↑ Naughty Dog [@Naughty_Dog] (September 22, 2020). "#TheLastofUsDay" (Tweet). Retrieved September 22, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ↑ Naughty Dog, LLC (September 22, 2020). Facebook "#TheLastofUsDay". Retrieved September 22, 2020.
- ↑ Naughty Dog [naughty_dog_inc] (September 22, 2020). Instagram "#TheLastofUsDay". Retrieved September 22, 2020.
- ↑ Druckmann, Neil (September 26, 2013). "The Last of Us: Outbreak Day and Alternate Ending". PlayStation.Blog. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ↑ Monacelli, Eric (September 26, 2014). "Outbreak Day: The Last of Us Remastered Photo Mode Winners". Naughty Dog. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ↑ Monacelli, Eric (November 11, 2014). "The Naughty Dog Shop: Clicker Bust". Naughty Dog. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ↑ Monacelli, Eric (September 22, 2015). "The Last of Us Outbreak Day 2015". Naughty Dog. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ↑ Lowe, Scott (September 26, 2016). "Outbreak Day 2016 Mondo Poster Revealed". Naughty Dog. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ↑ Lowe, Scott (September 26, 2017). "The Last of Us: Outbreak Day 2017 – New Poster, PS4 System Theme, And More". Naughty Dog. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lowe, Scott (September 26, 2018). "The Last of Us: Outbreak Day 2018". Naughty Dog. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ↑ "The Last of Us: Outbreak Day 2018". Mondo. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ↑ "The Last Of Us: Original Score – Volume One 2XLP". Mondo. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ↑ "The Last Of Us: Original Score – Volume Two 2XLP". Mondo. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ↑ Lowe, Scott (September 26, 2019). "The Last Of Us Part II: Outbreak Day 2019". Naughty Dog. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ↑ "New For The Last Of Us Day 2020". PlayStation. September 26, 2020. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
- ↑ "The Last of Us Day 2021". PlayStation. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
- ↑ HBO [@HBO] (September 26, 2021). "#TheLastofUs is now in production. @Naughty_Dog @PlayStation #TLOUDay" (Tweet). Retrieved October 17, 2021.
- ↑ Naughty Dog (September 26, 2022). "The Last of Us Day 2022". Naughty Dog. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
- ↑ Petski, Denise (September 26, 2022). "‘The Last Of Us’ Teaser Trailer: Pedro Pascal Is Asked To “Save Who You Can” In HBO Series". Deadline. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
- ↑ Naughty Dog [@Naughty_Dog] (September 26, 2022). "Endure & survive in style with the new The Last of Us merch drop on the PlayStation Gear Store." (Tweet) – via Twitter. Retrieved September 26, 2022.