The Last Of Us capped off Season 2 with a finale episode that proved to be just as brutal as the rest of this shocking season. But HBO suffered a significant decrease in viewership for the Season 2 finale, which aired during the 2025 Memorial Day weekend.

The network announced 3.7 million cross-platform viewers tuned into the Season 2 finale, which The Wrap reports is a 55% decrease from the Season 1 finale, which had 8.2 million cross-platform viewers.

However, HBO expects the Season 2 finale viewership to increase, attributing the current numbers to “low viewing levels over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.” The Last Of Us Season 2 is already at 37 million worldwide viewers per episode, out-earning Season 1 overall.

Season 2 of HBO’s adaptation closely follows the plot of The Last of Us Part II, which means viewers not familiar with the game were met with the shocking death of Pedro Pascal‘s beloved Joel early on in the season.

The rest of the season focused more so on Bella Ramsey‘s Ellie and Kaitlyn Dever‘s antagonist, Abby, as the show forced viewers to grapple with the gray area of grief and revenge.

The show has already been renewed for Season 3, which will adapt the rest of the video game sequel.

Craig Mazin teased the next season will continue exploring other characters, with a special focus on Abby.

“There is another side to this story that we have yet to really delve into,” Mazin said during a recent press conference. “There’s no question that Abby is the hero of her story. Kaitlyn Dever is the hero of a story always, you know? I mean, if you have Kaitlyn Dever, you use a Kaitlyn Dever.”

He also revealed the series will require a fourth season to finish telling this story.

“Certainly, there’s no way to complete this narrative in a third season. Hopefully, we’ll earn our keep enough to come back and finish it in a fourth. That’s the most likely outcome,” he told Collider.

The Last Of Us is streaming now on HBO Max.