The Last of Us Season 2 has officially wrapped, and while HBO is touting the series’ long-term streaming growth, the initial ratings for the finale paint a much different picture.
According to data shared by HBO and reported by Deadline, the Season 2 finale drew 3.7 million cross-platform viewers in the U.S. on its first night. While that number may seem strong in isolation, it represents a 30% drop from the Season 2 premiere, which brought in 5.3 million viewers. More significantly, it marks a 55% drop from the Season 1 finale, which drew 8.2 million viewers across platforms when it aired in March 2023.
#TheLastOfUs S2 finale had 3.7M viewers 📺
• 30% drop from the S2 premiere
• 55% drop from the S1 finaleHBO expects the finale’s viewership to grow — S2 is currently averaging 37M viewers per episode globally pic.twitter.com/zPBUzI5NVY
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) May 26, 2025
That’s the real story: more than half of the show’s finale audience disappeared between seasons, despite its critical praise and mainstream coverage.
HBO and Deadline, however, emphasized a different angle.
In its report, Deadline leaned on HBO’s internal projections, noting that the network expects “significant growth after the Memorial Day holiday weekend.” HBO further claimed that Season 2 is “amassing more average viewers over time than Season 1,” and is already approaching “nearly 37 million global viewers per episode” once delayed and on-demand views are included.
Abby in The Last of Us Season 2 – Max
For context, the Season 1 premiere eventually totaled 32 million viewers over a 90-day window, setting a record for a debut season on HBO and Max.
Still, comparing eventual long-term viewership to same-day numbers tells only part of the story—and it can obscure significant audience drop-off. While The Last of Us may gain views over time through streaming platforms, the drop from 8.2 million for the Season 1 finale to just 3.7 million for the Season 2 closer reflects substantial erosion in real-time engagement and fan retention.
Much of that decline aligns with controversial creative decisions that unfolded in both the original game and the TV adaptation.
Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie in The Last of Us (2023), HBO
Season 2 follows the divisive narrative arc of The Last of Us: Part II, including the early removal of beloved character Joel and a story centered on Abby, a character who continues to split opinion among longtime fans. Audience reception has mirrored this tension. While critic scores remain high—Season 2 holds a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes—the audience score has fallen to just 39%, indicating a sharp divide between industry praise and viewer satisfaction.
HBO’s official statement attributes the finale’s performance in part to holiday weekend scheduling, suggesting numbers may climb in the days ahead. That’s likely true to some extent—delayed viewing is standard in the streaming era—but the broader trend remains clear: fewer people are watching The Last of Us live, and a significant portion of the audience that showed up for Season 1 simply didn’t return for Season 2, or at most just didn’t finish it.
This drop also comes amid a broader conversation about how fan feedback is handled by the show’s creators.
Neil Druckmann speaking at the 2014 San Diego Comic Con International, for “The Last of Us”, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Neil Druckmann, co-creator of the HBO series and director of the original game, recently stated in an interview that he prefers to ignore media and audience criticism and instead “stick to your guns” and pursue his creative vision when discussing an upcoming title. That philosophy, while artistically consistent, may not be bridging the gap between what fans want and what the show delivers.
Season 3 of The Last of Us is already confirmed and will continue adapting the remaining portion of Part II, keeping Abby at the center of the story. Whether future episodes can recover from the ratings slump remains to be seen.
Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie in The Last of Us (2023), HBO
But for now, the numbers are clear: The Last of Us has lost more than half its audience since Season 1—and that’s a drop even HBO’s spin can’t obscure.
What do you think about The Last of Us finale ratings? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
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I hope HBO cancels the show before it reaches the awful ending in the game. This will be another hit for Druckmann’s ego.
They didn’t cancel Game of Thrones or many other garbage shows that couldn’t turn profit. They can’t. They have contracts and the payouts to the owners, insurance companies, actors, director, etc… would actually be higher than the losses they will take. Or at least more spread out.
Good point. I guess I’ll have to settle for dwindling ratings until people forget this garbage show exists.
It shocks me that people are shocked at these results. Do they think gamers aren’t people who watch TV too and expect a particular level of quality in their story telling?
I guess they feel gamers are “special” and distinct enough, with no overlap on the Venn diagram, from TV viewers that you can’t extrapolate any results from that audience to the mythical modern TV viewing audience. This either says a lot about how picky gamers are or the level of contempt TV execs hold for their viewers, that they expected different results.
I can’t wait for the Abby show. Sideline all the main character (in the case of the “almost but not quite” downs-syndrome looking Bella Ramsey that is probably a good thing) in the hopes the audience will be able to build rapport with the most hated character in the game/show. A character and part of the story completely rejected by the “test” audience of gamers.
To quote a much more impressive piece of entertainment “That’s a bold strategy, Cotton.”
We all know that there’s a certain demographic that they despise and don’t want them watching
Woke show turns out to be unpopular. A lesson as old as woke.
More lies and spin from the elites
This thumbnail is hilarious.
I was going to post the same sentiment and then I happened upon yours.
Upon even closer inspection, Lookit that bottom lip’a hers. Hilarious.