HBO’s hit video game adaptation, "The Last of Us," made a powerful return after two years, with its second season premiering on April 13, 2025. Despite the significant plot controversies surrounding the original game, "The Last of Us Part II," this appears to have done little to dampen the series' buzz or its impressive viewership figures.
Reports indicate that the premiere episode of "The Last of Us" Season 2 drew approximately 5.3 million viewers across all platforms in the United States, marking a nearly 13% increase compared to the Season 1 premiere in 2023.
Looking back at the first season's debut in January 2023, it attracted 4.7 million viewers nationwide across HBO cable and the HBO Max streaming platform. This made it HBO's second-highest series premiere in nearly 12 years, surpassed only by the astounding over 7 million viewers for "Boardwalk Empire" in 2010.
The nine-episode first season of "The Last of Us" saw steadily climbing viewership, with its finale reaching a series high of 8.2 million cross-platform viewers. With delayed viewing factored in, Season 1 averaged 32 million viewers per episode, establishing it as the most-watched first season ever for HBO and Max. Even before the second season's launch, audience re-engagement with the series surged, with re-watch viewership increasing by an impressive 150% in the week prior, laying a strong foundation for the new season.
via： TVLine