This year is filled with big remakes and sequels to beloved titles, and one of the biggest is The Last of Us Part 2. The post-apocalyptic game will see the return of an older Ellie as she continues to fight against the cruel world where society has long since fallen. Like the original, much has been made about the game’s impacted and raw violence, but it seems it may also see some other mature themes not so familiar to developer Naughty Dog.
Via the game’s official website, we see that the ESRB has rated it now. It got the M (17+) listing, as expected, but also has Sexual Content and Nudity listed. That’s a first for any Naughty Dog game. Sexual Content is defined by the ESRB as “non-explicit depictions of sexual behavior, possibly including partial nudity.” That implies depiction of some type of sexual content, not just coy references as seen in the “Sexual Themes” listing.
While the overall plot of The Last of Us Part 2 has been kept under wraps, we do know that Ellie will have a girlfriend, with trailers hinting that may be the driving force of the plot in some form. Exploring sexuality in any kind of depth is still something unheard of in video games, especially the mainstream blockbusters. Whether this will actually amount to anything significant in the long run, we’ll have to wait and see when the game launches in May.