How Naughty Dog challenged tropes and stereotypes with Ellie in The Last of Us

Wednesday, 03 July 2024

How Naughty Dog challenged tropes and stereotypes with Ellie in The Last of Us

Added: 08.09.2015 5:20 | 48 views | 0 comments

Popoptiq: Later in the same year [that Bioshock Infinite was released] the fine folk at Naughty Dog faced a similar issue with The Last of Us. They too had a game that featured a female companion in their story. They too had created a female character that was every bit as important to their game as the male lead. And they too were asked by the higher ups to consider changing their box art to excise the pesky, unwanted girl from the cover. The difference was that, whether down to artistic integrity, or just the fact that after a string of hits Naughty Dog had been given carte blanche by Sony to do whatever they wanted, they flat-out refused to change their cover for The Last of Us. Those mavericks at Naughty Dog demanded that Ellie stayed front and center because they felt that she was just as integral to the story of the game as Joel was. Yes, they risked it all by letting customers know that if they bought the game, thered be a girl in it. And The Last of Us went on to sell milli...