Depeche Mode enjoy huge streaming bounce thanks to ‘The Last of Us’
Over the course of the last decade, the video game industry has evolved in many ways. However, very few games have been as influential for the medium as Naughty Dog’s 2013 masterpiece, The Last of Us. A zombie survival game set in a post-apocalyptic version of America, The Last of Us is a philosophically complex examination of a society in decline.
While TV adaptations of video games rarely impress their respective fanbases, the new HBO series based on The Last of Us is off to a flying start. Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, the first episode premiered last week, and it has already garnered acclaim from critics and fans.
In an interview with The New York Times, the game’s director Neil Druckmann explained: “Part of the game’s success was that we try to treat it as grounded as possible. And with the show, we’re able to take that philosophy even further. So I think why the pandemic [in the games] feels so real, even though it was written before our current pandemic, is we were looking at things like Katrina. Like here’s where government fails, here’s where people can get really selfish, and here’s where we can see these great acts of love.”
While talking about the adaptation, Druckmann added: “The most important thing was to keep the soul of it, what it’s about: these relationships. What makes the show are the characters, the philosophical arguments of, ‘Do the ends justify the means?’ And, ‘How big is your tribe that you’re going to care for?'”
There’s a recent trend of music classics being revitalised by popular shows such as Stranger Things, and The Last of Us has done the same for Depeche Mode. In the show, a radio code is used to transmit secret messages, and ’80s songs are probably used to signal that something ominous is around the corner. That’s why the showrunner’s decision to end the first episode with Depeche Mode’s ‘Never Let Me Down Again’ has left fans wanting more.
