2012 VGAs: ‘The Last of Us’ Release Date Finally Revealed

As it turns out, Wal-Mart’s estimate for The Last of Us‘ release date that Sony tried to downplay was more or less correct. During the 2012 Spike VGAs Friday night, Sony and developer Naughty Dog revealed that the PlayStation 3 exclusive is due to release May 7, 2013.

The release date announcement came at the end of an all-new trailer for The Last of Us. Whereas most footage we’ve seen so far focused solely on protagonists Joel and Ellie, this trailer introduces us to the game’s other survivors of the apocalypse.

The video shows Joel and Ellie’s struggle to survive in a world brought to its knees by a mysterious and deadly fungus. In one scene, Joel asks for essential supplies from a less-than-cooperative man; in another, we’re shown a populated, yet run-down city that appears to be under the control of a police force.

Announced during last year’s VGAs, The Last of Us is developer Naughty Dog’s first new IP since their work on the Uncharted series wrapped up with the release of Uncharted 3 early this year. The studio is known for making cinematic, movie-like games, and that is certainly not going to be changing with The Last of Us.

Naughty Dog’s latest may also be one of Sony’s last PlayStation 3-exclusive IPs to release before the PlayStation 4, which industry chatter suggests will be announced at or around E3 2013. If so, it looks like The Last of Us will make a good send-off for the console.

Will you be picking up The Last of Us?