HBO's hit series "The Last of Us" Season 2 has officially concluded, with its finale drawing 3.7 million cross-platform viewers on its premiere night in the U.S. 
However, the finale's viewership marked a noticeable decline from the Season 2 premiere's 5.3 million viewers, and also fell short of the Season 1 finale's peak of 8.2 million. Despite this, HBO and Warner Bros. remain optimistic, emphasizing that these are preliminary figures. They anticipate "significant growth" in the coming days, attributing the initial numbers to the Memorial Day long weekend.
Even with the finale's initial overnight data falling below expectations, HBO highlighted the season's overall strong performance. Season 2 has now reached a global average of nearly 37 million viewers per episode, surpassing Season 1's average and indicating a continued surge in overall viewership.
Notably, official data shows that Season 1 accumulated 32 million viewers in the U.S. within 90 days of its premiere, demonstrating the series' long-tail appeal and significant future potential.
IGN's review of "The Last of Us" Season 2 finale awarded it a 6 out of 10, noting that the episode's rapid pace, while building to a cliffhanger ending, sacrificed emotional development, leaving viewers feeling both tense and somewhat unbalanced. However, the overall review still acknowledged the season's production quality, particularly praising episodes six and four, which received high scores of 8 and 9 respectively, for their excellent dramatic tension and character development.
Regarding the series' future, co-creator Craig Mazin recently stated in an interview that attempting to cover the entire game's storyline in Season 3 would be "extremely lengthy" and almost impossible to complete within a single season. He therefore suggested that "a fourth season is almost an inevitable arrangement," revealing that a fairly complete structural direction is already in place.
via： IGN