The Last of Us Part 2 was the ultimate "spite success" in gaming history.

I was replaying the game recently and it got me thinking about what this game went through.

The leaks dropped, the internet went into a complete meltdown, and millions of people declared it dead on arrival. You couldn’t go anywhere without seeing claims that Naughty Dog ruined the franchise and that the game was going to tank financially.

Then the game came out.

It ended up shattering sales records, won Game of the Year, and took home hundreds of awards. People spent months insisting it was a guaranteed failure, only for the game to completely overpower the backlash. Whether you liked the narrative choices or not, watching a game face that level of pre release outrage and still turn into a critically acclaimed title was pure vindication.

I don't think there will be another title as divisive as TLOU2, let alone one that pulls off that kind of success while winning Game of the Year.

It's really a lesson that the Internet doesn't move markets as much as folks like to imagine it does.

TLOU2 controversy was pretty limited to online, and clearly didn't move the needle in terms of sales and reception

There’s a disconnect between online gamers and actual gamers.

There are people who say Skyrim and GTA V were never good games on this platform ignoring the fact they are two of the best selling games of all time.

If you get your news from social media my advice is stop.

Not really. It wasn’t a flop but it sold far far fewer units than the first game. The first game sold 30 million, the sequel sold 10 million. Pretty massive drop in sales considering it was the sequel to a game widely considered the best game ever made.

I feel like the Last of Us game series was one of the most heavily scrutinized/polarizing game series ever, so I agree.

no

it's a great example of just how small of a minority that the "large" group of online angry Gamers™ actually are

i'd be willing to be quite a lot of money the majority of folks who purchased the game had little to no idea that the stupid nontroversies were going on

Have ypu been seeing the endless hate and glaze threads for GTA 6? I think things will just fet more and more devisive because it fuels engagement and thus social media algorithms and even conventional media push for it.

Hogwarts Legacy entered the chat.

The first game sold 30 million units over the course of 13 years. That isn’t a massive drop in sales, that’s just what happens when you discount the game for 20 dollars on the regular.

Add in the fact that at least one of the controversies (Abby being trans) was completely made up as well.

All of those sales were inflated, and all of the awards and glowing reviewswere paid for..even the fan voted ones

\- that strange TLOU2 sub reddit full of weirdos probably

another example of how the internet is not real life.

The internet sounds thousands of times louder than its actual impact. Its a good reminder.