Kaitlyn Dever, the actress portraying Abby Anderson in the second season of HBO's The Last of Us adaptation, required extra security during filming for her own protection.

This comes from fellow castmate Isabel Merced, who is playing Dina in the show. Speaking with Josh Horowitz on Happy Sad Confused, Merced discussed the strong emotions the series can spark within some that have resulted in volatile reactions from so-called fans.

When Horowitz said he was concerned about Dever, and the toxicity she will likely receive "through proxy of being Abby", Merced stated there are "so many strange people" who "genuinely hate" the character. This is despite her being completely fictional. And, because of this, Dever was required to have extra security during the filming for the second season.

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HBO has released its first teaser for the second season of The Last of Us.

The teaser is short, but gives us a look at some returning and new faces coming to the second season. New faces include Kaitlyn Dever as Abby and Catherine O'Hara's still to be named character (although previous rumours suggested her character will be called Gail).

You can check out the teaser below, towards the end of HBO's latest sizzle reel. It starts at around the 01:15 mark. After the trailer, I will be breaking down a few bits I noticed, so please be aware of spoilers for The Last of Us Part 2 (the video game) below.

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Sony has scrubbed an interview with Naughty Dog head Neil Druckmann from its website after finding "several significant errors and inaccuracies".

Last week Druckmann took part in an interview with Sony as part of the company's corporate strategy meeting, and at the time, Druckmann was reported to have said that Naughty Dog's next title could "redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming", and that "AI is really going to revolutionise how content is being created".

Soon after it was published, however, Druckmann took to social media to state that what he said had been lost in translation. Or, to quote Druckmann, his "words, context, and intent were unfortunately lost".

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UPDATE 28/5/24: A photo showing Jeffrey Wright on the set of The Last of Us has started making the rounds online.

Wright was announced to be reprising his role as Isaac - whom he also played in The Last of Us Part 2 - for the show's second season at the end of last week. The photo appears to suggest that we will be getting more of Isaac's backstory told when season two airs next year.

You can see the photo below, if you want to see a clue to how the show is (perhaps) developing Isaac's story, however please be aware of potential spoilers.

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Update Saturday 25th May 2024: Naughty Dog co-studio head, Neil Druckmann, has pushed back on claims he said Naughty Dog's next project "could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming", saying his "words, context, and intent were unfortunately lost" in an interview with Sony.

In an image appended to his message, Druckmann highlighted the eyebrow-raising phrase, "[Naughty Dog's next game] could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming", and then appended his original response to the interview question "is there a personal vision or dream you hope to see realised in the realm of entertainment", which I've written out in full below:

"Well, I've been very lucky, in that I've already had that. I got the chance to make several of my dream projects. I am working on a new one right now. And it's maybe the most excited I've been for a project yet. I can't talk about it or our bosses will get very mad at me. And I guess in general, there is something happening now that I think is very cool. Which is there's a new appreciation for gaming that I've never seen before. Like when I was growing up, gaming was more of a kid's thing. Now it's clearly for everyone. But it's like, if you're a gamer, you know about the potential of games, and non-gamers, they don't really know what they're missing out on.

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Sony has added another game to its ongoing trials catalogue over on PlayStation Plus Premium.

Those subscribed to the service's Premium tier are now able to give The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered a whirl. This particular trial offers the chance for users to experience two hours of the game.

Once those two hours are then up, those that wish to continue on with the story will need to fork out the full £44.99.

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Four new cast members have been announced for The Last of Us Season 2.

As reported by Variety, Danny Ramirez, Tati Gabrielle, Ariela Barer and Spencer Lord have all joined HBO's adaptation. Those who have played The Last of Us Part 2 will recognise their characters as members of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF).

Ramirez, whose previous acting credits include Top Gun: Maverick and Marvel's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, will play Manny. The show's description states Manny is "a loyal soldier whose sunny outlook belies the pain of old wounds and a fear that he will fail his friends when they need him most". Barer, meanwhile, will play Mel, described as "a young doctor whose commitment to saving lives is challenged by the realities of war and tribalism".

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Sony president and PlayStation chairman Hiroki Totoki has spoken of the opportunities available in its approach to releasing first-party games on PC, saying it's "proactively [working] on" bringing more titles to other platforms as part of an "aggressive" profit margin growth plan.

Totoki made the comments during an investor Q&A coinciding with Sony's latest financial earnings report. When asked how its gaming division might be looking to increase profits, he first discussed the difficulty of cost reduction in PlayStation hardware, given component pricing, before highlighting a "multiplatform" approach to its first-party game releases as a potentially more fruitful area of expansion.

"In the past, as you all know," Totoki explained, "we wanted to popularise [our] console, and the first-party title's main purpose was to make the console popular."

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