It's not long until we finally get our hands on The Last of Us 2, but the road to the highly-anticipated sequel's release date hasn't been smooth. Between delays and spoiler leaks, The Last of Us 2 has had a fairly rocky development road but, according to Sony, these factors haven't hugely affected pre-orders.
In an interview with CNET, Sony Interactive Entertainment boss Jim Ryan revealed that – despite the spoilers and delays – demand for The Last of Us 2 remains strong. In fact, Sony has taken more The Last of Us 2 pre-orders in Europe than it did for critically-acclaimed PS4 exclusive Marvel's Spider-Man.
"We hope this'll be a defining game for this generation," Ryan told CNET. The SIE boss also confirmed that The Last of Us 2 is PS5 compatible, suggesting Sony may have a forwards-compatibility feature up its sleeve, similar to Xbox Series X's Smart Delivery.
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Move over Spider-Man
Marvel's Spider-Man sold 13 million units worldwide, making it the best selling superhero game of all time in the US.
While Ryan didn't state at what point The Last of Us 2's pre-order figures have been taken from, we assume they have been taken from after the point that The Last of Us 2 was de-listed from the PlayStation Store, when pre-orders were cancelled due to the game being "indefinitely delayed".
Regardless, it seems like the hype for The Last of Us 2 is still there despite the massive spoilers leak that took place last month.
And the Sony hype is only building, with the company announcing last week that it will finally host the PS5 games reveal on June 4. In the interview with CNET, Ryan confirmed that the PS5 games reveal event on June 4 will showcase PS5 games and gameplay, and will be part of a "series of PS5 updates" ahead of the next-gen console's release in late 2020. We can't wait to see what's in store.
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The Last of Us 2 will release exclusively for PS4 on June 19, 2020.
An award-winning games journalist, with seven years of experience in games journalism and a degree in journalism from City University, London, Vic brings experience from IGN, Eurogamer, The Telegraph, VG247, Dot Esports and more to the TechRadar table. You may have even heard her on the radio or speaking on a panel, as she’s previously appeared on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5, BBC Radio Ulster and more. Not only is Vic passionate about games, but she's appeared on both panels and podcasts to discuss mental health awareness. Make sure to follow her on Twitter for more.