The publisher’s description further down tells you what the story is about. This covers what it leaves out: how Part I differs from the 2013 original and its Remastered edition, what is and is not in the package, what happened to the PC version at launch and where it stands today, and what to play after it.
Written by Rayyan Omar
Reviewed by Layla FarahFacts checked
Part I is the 2022 remake of the 2013 original, rebuilt from the ground up by Naughty Dog for PlayStation 5 and brought to PC the following year. The story, the script and the levels are the ones people remember; the characters, animation, lighting, enemy behaviour and combat feel are new. It is not the 2014 Remastered edition, which was the PlayStation 3 game at a higher resolution — Part I replaces both.
The Left Behind prequel chapter is included, playable from the main menu. The original’s online multiplayer mode, Factions, is not: Part I is a single-player game. If you have watched the HBO series, its first season follows this game’s story closely, so you know where it goes — what the game adds is the long stretches between those scenes, which are most of it.
Two games, one prequel chapter, one remake, one remaster — and a television series alongside.
The original on PlayStation 3, with the Factions multiplayer mode.
The prequel chapter about Ellie and Riley, then the whole package on PlayStation 4.
The sequel, set five years later, on PlayStation 4.
The ground-up remake on PlayStation 5, then on PC on 28 March 2023. The HBO series had premiered two months earlier.
The sequel reached PC on 3 April 2025, ten days before the second season of the HBO series premiered.
Honestly: it launched badly. The PC version, developed by Naughty Dog with Iron Galaxy, arrived on 28 March 2023 with crashes, very long shader building on first launch and heavy demands on graphics memory, and it was widely criticised for it. The studios patched it through the months that followed, and version 1.1 in June 2023 — eleven weeks after launch — brought broad CPU and GPU performance work, faster shader compilation, and Steam Deck Verified status.
What remains is one habit worth adopting. The game compiles shaders the first time you start it, and again after some updates; letting that finish in the menu before you begin is the difference between a smooth first hour and a stuttering one. Beyond that, the PC version supports NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR 2, ultrawide 21:9 and 32:9, 3D audio, full control remapping, and a wired DualSense with haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.
Part I has been on PC since 2023, and games at that age are discounted more often and more deeply than Sony’s newest releases. The waves follow the same shape every year.
We never publish a sale before it starts: dates reach us through our distribution channel under embargo and are the publisher’s to announce. The moment a PlayStation sale goes live, the PlayStation page shows a countdown and the deepest discount in it.
Often the first reasonable cut of the year on the PlayStation back catalogue.
One of the two big windows of the year, and usually a deep one for titles of this age.
Naughty Dog’s yearly celebration of the series. Worth watching, not worth waiting for: some years bring franchise news, not every year brings a price change.
The most dependable discount of the year across the whole catalogue, and often the moment both parts drop together.
The other big window. Worth comparing with Black Friday rather than assuming either is lower.
Checked September 17, 2026
84% of 109,209 reviews are positive
“People always say the apocalypse brings out the worst in humanity. I disagree. It brings out the truth. That's why I love this game. The world ends, governments collapse, cities rot away, and suddenly everyone stops pretending they're…”
“Masterpiece. I really love how The Last of Us Part I Remake makes the characters to show their emotions so clearly through their facial expressions, which makes me feel even more immersed in the story.”
“a masterpiece of interactive media. it took me 21 hours to complete the game on normal, without actively hunting achievements, and I still felt that it was too short. that's how incredible it is. you are dearly missed, Naughty Dog. I'll…”
Live from Steam, refreshed every few hours. Reviews are shown in English, as their authors wrote them.
The latest patch notes the developers posted on Steam, newest first — shown in English, as published.
No. Remastered (2014) was the PlayStation 3 game at a higher resolution. Part I (2022) is a full remake with new character models, animation, lighting and enemy behaviour, telling the same story.
Yes. The Left Behind prequel chapter is part of Part I and can be played from the main menu at any time.
No. Part I is single-player only. The Factions multiplayer mode from the 2013 original is not included.
No. The Last of Us Part I does not require a PlayStation Network account on PC.
Largely, yes. The March 2023 launch had crashes and performance problems; patches through 2023, above all version 1.1 in June, addressed performance, loading and shader compilation. Let the shader build finish on first launch before you start playing.
Yes. The game became Steam Deck Verified with the 1.1 update in June 2023, which also added recommended settings for the Deck.
Either order works. The first season follows this game’s story closely, so one will spoil the other’s plot — but the game is far longer and spends most of its time on what the series skips.
Around 15 hours for the main story at a normal pace, plus two to three hours for Left Behind.
The publisher’s own specifications are further down this page — the Requirements link in the section bar jumps straight to them. The minimum lists 16 GB of RAM and a GTX 970, GTX 1050 Ti or RX 470 with 4 GB of video memory, and the game needs about 100 GB of space.
Immediately after payment, on screen and by email. Every key comes through our authorised distribution channel and activates permanently on your own Steam account.
The facts in this guide were checked against these pages on the date above.
Senior Gaming Commerce Editor, Virtwave
Rayyan covers console and PC gaming wallets for Virtwave, with deep specialism in PlayStation Network, Xbox, Razer Gold and Steam. He has been writing about digital gaming commerce since 2020.
Reviewed by Layla Farah, Lead Editorial, Virtwave
We’ve played every game we write a buying guide for on PC. The facts on this page — release dates, what each edition contains, account requirements and system specs — were checked against the sources above on September 16, 2026, and we update the page when they change. Virtwave sells this key; no publisher paid for this guide or reviewed it before publication.
Experience the emotional storytelling and unforgettable characters in The Last of Us™, winner of over 200 Game of the Year awards.
In a ravaged civilization, where infected and hardened survivors run rampant, Joel, a weary protagonist, is hired to smuggle 14-year-old Ellie out of a military quarantine zone. However, what starts as a small job soon transforms into a brutal cross-country journey.
Includes the complete The Last of Us single-player story and celebrated prequel chapter, Left Behind, which explores the events that changed the lives of Ellie and her best friend Riley forever.
In order to activate this game, you will require a third-party 'Steam' account. For full details on how to activate please follow this link: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=5414-TFBN-1352
©2022 Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC. Created and developed by Naughty Dog LLC. The Last of Us is a registered trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC and related companies in the U.S. and other countries.
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