Naughty Dog Renames The Last of Us Outbreak Day Due to COVID-19 - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 22 September 2020 / 3,397 Views

After seven years Naughty Dog has decided to rename the annual The Last of Us-themed Outbreak Day to just The Last of Us Day. This is due to the ongoing challenges from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Last of Us Day will take place on September 26.

"For the last 7 years, September 26 has been our opportunity to recognize and celebrate the incredible passion of the Last of Us community," Naughty Dog said via Twitter. "However, as we thought about the events of the last year and the challenges we all continue to face with COVID-19, we didn't feel right continuing on under the 'Outbreak Day' banner. While the name and date are rooted in the fiction of the game, September 26 means so much more than lore. It's about showing our appreciation for our fans.

"That's why, this Saturday and moving forward, September 26 will be known as The Last of Us Day--a name that not only acknowledges the world around us, but also reflects the growth of the community as we welcome millions of new players with the release of The Last of Us Part II. We have a lot of exciting things plans and we can't wait to share them with you in just a few days!"

The Last of Us Part II launched for the PlayStation 4 on June 19. The game sold over four million units in just three days and is the fastest-selling first-party PS4 exclusive ever.

#TheLastofUsDay pic.twitter.com/dEycyibZw4
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) September 22, 2020

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

25 Comments

ARamdomGamer (on 22 September 2020)

there is a last of us day?

2zosteven (on 22 September 2020)

to many touch feely people

SecondWar (on 22 September 2020)

I don’t think this was necessary. I don’t see how you could take offence to the name unless you really tried.

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Kanemaru (on 22 September 2020)

Sure, it's gonna change everything.....

DonFerrari Kanemaru (on 22 September 2020)

2M people less dead by COVID was achieved by the name change =p

LivncA_Dis3 (on 22 September 2020)

if they have an update about faction 2.0 then tlou2 legs be coming back

DonFerrari (on 22 September 2020)

Again as I say changing the words doesn`t change the intent and mean, so pointless change.

AFattyGamer (on 22 September 2020)

ArchangelMadzz AFattyGamer (on 22 September 2020)

Pardon my ignorance, what was the SJW crap?

AkimboCurly AFattyGamer (on 22 September 2020)

I heard many people angry because they kicked out Amy Hennig who wrote the original uncharted Trilogy because she wasn't on board with trying to integrate social commentary or tokenism into ND's storytelling. Also an interview with Alan Tudyk here: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/10/alan-tudyk-i-left-uncharted-4-over-weird-changes-to-script/ gives the public a bit of an idea about the changes that were going on at that time.

This doesn't have anything to do with Covid-19 though so not exactly relevant lol

-2

ArchangelMadzz AFattyGamer (on 22 September 2020)

I've not heard any of that being said.

She didn't want uncharted to take a darker tone like there was in TLOU and they clashed over that and she was then forced out. There is most definitely social commentary in the first 3 uncharted games.

ArchangelMadzz AFattyGamer (on 22 September 2020)

https://www.criticalhit.net/gaming/the-story-of-amy-hennig-being-forced-out-f-naughty-dog-was-nothing-but-forced-gossip/#:~:text=but%20%E2%80%9Cforced%20gossip%E2%80%9D-,The%20story%20of%20Amy%20Hennig%20being%20forced%20out%20of,was%20nothing%20but%20%E2%80%9Cforced%20gossip%E2%80%9D&text=Back%20then%2C%20IGN%20reported%20that,being%20responsible%20for%20her%20departure.

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ArchangelMadzz AFattyGamer (on 22 September 2020)

Mushroom zombies are okay as long as there's no lesbians.

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JWeinCom AFattyGamer (on 22 September 2020)

No spoilers guys.

kazuyamishima AFattyGamer (on 22 September 2020)

What SJW?

SecondWar AFattyGamer (on 23 September 2020)

@JWein The game has been out for months. Can’t we discuss it freely now?

Also, I don’t get what of in my first post could have been considered a spoiler.

JWeinCom AFattyGamer (on 23 September 2020)

@Second War

Yes and no.

Keep in mind, The Last of Us sold 4 million copies in its first year, and went on to sell another 4 million copies, not including the PS4 version. So, a lot of people who will eventually play the game haven't done so yet.

You can discuss the game as freely as you want, as long as you give adequate warning for anyone who does not wish to be spoiled. Simply put a visible warning early on in the post, leave some space after that so people have a chance to turn back before accidentally reading anything, and you're fine. For example...

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR TWELVE ANGRY MEN.

They vote to acquit. If you haven't seen Twelve Angry Men, which you should it's excellent, and didn't want to know the ending, then you didn't read this. Sure it's a 60 year old movie, but not everyone's seen it, so I'll take the extra 10 seconds to be courteous.