The Last Of Us second episode sees biggest viewer increase in HBO history

HBO’s The Last of Us series is continuing to break viewership records which is good news for us because the possibility of a second season grows more and more likely with each day.

In case you missed it, The Last of Us marks HBO’s second-largest debut since 2010, losing out only to Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon. Across its first two days of availability, a whopping 10 million viewers tuned in in the US. This week’s episode featured yet another major death, although fans are pretty split over how it went down. We also finally know how the outbreak began. If you’re sick of seeing The Last of Us discourse on social media, I’m sorry - that’s not going to stop. The series just had the biggest week two viewer increase in HBO history.

Take a look at what’s in store in the weeks ahead in the trailer below.

That’s right. According to the InsideHBOMax Twitter account, episode two brought in 5.7 million live viewers. In comparison, 4.7 million people watched the first episode live - with that figure rising to 10 million after 48 hours. This is a 22% week-on-week increase and the largest week two audience growth for a HBO Original drama series in the history of the network.

A press release published by WarnerMedia also added that after one full week of availability, episode one has now been watched by 18 million viewers, which is almost four times the amount that tuned in on premiere day. To compare, The Last of Us as a game has sold 37 million copies since it was released in 2013. To have almost half that number watch the premiere in one week is astonishing.

It’s worth remembering that House of the Dragon was renewed for a second season after just two episodes aired. Given The Last of Us’ success, surely it’ll soon follow suit. We sure hope so.