Blame the bugs (pic: Sony)



The disastrous PC launch of The Last Of Us Part 1 has resulted in dire sales figures, especially for one of Sony’s key franchises.



Sony’s recent investors meeting has unveiled some interesting details about the current performance of the PlayStation brand and its plans for the future , with one section focusing on its growing presence on PC.



With more PlayStation titles ported to PC, revenue in that area has naturally gone up. This past fiscal year saw the company earn $450 million (just under £364 million), with Sony highlighting the ports of Spider-Man and The Last Of Us Part 1 as key launches for that year.



One detail, however, that Sony’s opted not to elaborate on is The Last Of Us Part 1’s sales figures. The game sold only 368,000 units up to April, one month after launch.



Those are hardly figures you’d expect from one of Sony’s key franchises, especially since it launched in the wake of the HBO show’s season finale ; a prime opportunity to capitalise on the show’s popularity and attract new fans hungry for more.



There’s no need to speculate why this happened though because you all know the reason. It didn’t take long for The Last Of Us’ PC port to gain infamy for its awful performance . The game was riddled with more bugs than an ant farm, but it also suffered from constant crashes and an uneven frame rate.



If anything, Sony’s desire to have it out not long after the show likely resulted in it rushing the port out the door before it was ready, perhaps banking on the branding to overshadow the complaints.



The Last Of Us Part 1 – even if it’s better now, that awful first impression put off a lot of potential customers (pic: Twitter)



Clearly, word of the problems spread fast enough for people to avoid it, resulting in an unambiguous disaster. Naughty Dog did vow to fix the problems and release updates but there are still reports of problems now, months after the initial launch.



The fact that the Steam user reviews are still mixed likely doesn’t help either. Although the number of positive ones now outweigh the negative ones: 18,286 compared to 15,038 at the time of writing.



By comparison, Spider-Man on PC has sold more than quadruple The Last Of Us Part 1, pushing 1.5 million units since last August. Admittedly, it’s had more time to do so but it also didn’t come out in a near unplayable state and enjoys a far more healthy and positive reception on Steam .



In terms of revenue, Spider-Man on PC has made $52 million (just under £42 million) while The Last Of Us on PC has made $15.5 million (just over £12.5 million).



Nowhere in its presentation does Sony acknowledge The Last Of Us’ shortcomings, whether it’s turned a profit, or if it expects sales to improve later down the line. Hopefully, its reputation was enough to ensure Sony won’t make the same mistake twice.









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