‘The Last of Us’ patch removes functioning phone sex number from in-game posters

By Michael Rougeau July 1, 2013

the last of us phone sex — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The latest patch for Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us removes a working phone sex hotline number from in-game posters, the developer confirms. An artist accidentally included the phone number on an ad for pest control that can be seen plastered around the game’s dystopian environments. Players called the phone number and reached a working sex line shortly after the PlayStation 3-exclusive game’s launch in June 2013.

“What happened was, they put some phone numbers in the game and then they thought they could just change the area code to 555, then it’s invalid because it’s what they do in movies,” The Last of Us creative director Neil Druckmann tells Kotaku. “But I guess that doesn’t work when you have a 1-800 in front of it.”

The update brings the game up to version 1.02. It also fixes several multiplayer issues related to host migration, connectivity, and crashes, and tweaks other gameplay and playlist settings, in addition to removing the offending phone numbers.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Action Games

Michael Rougeau

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Mike Rougeau is a journalist and writer who lives in Los Angeles with his girlfriend and two dogs. He specializes in video…

Gaming

How to import a Last of Us Part 2 save from PS4 to PS5

Lev draws a bow in The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered.

If you've played The Last of Us Part 2 on PlayStation 4 and have purchased or upgraded to The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered on PlayStation 5, you may want to pick up from where you left off on your original save. Luckily, you can do exactly that by transferring your save from PS4 to PS5. In this guide, we'll tell you how to do so.

Gaming

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered turns the original game into a cruel punch line

Lev draws a bow in The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered.

It was a sunny spring day in 2020, amid the social isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, when I beat The Last of Us Part 2. As its long credits rolled, I paced around my small apartment living room, unpacking what had transpired. I adored the sequel’s first two acts and its multifaceted discussion of cyclical violence, but I found myself critical of its California-set finale. It seemed to backtrack on all the nuance of Ellie and Abby’s struggle by introducing a definitively evil faction that I wouldn’t feel bad about shooting with a machine gun. It was a discordant note at the end of a symphony, but I was determined to dig below my surface reading and try to understand what Naughty Dog was going for. It had earned that.

That’s when I was hit by the one moment of the game I’ll never forget. As I was deep in reflection, the credits wrapped up, and a final bit of text splashed on the screen. As a reward for finishing the brutal story, I had unlocked New Game+ mode, which would encourage me to replay it again with all my upgraded guns. The benefit of the doubt I’d given Naughty Dog went out the window; did the studio even understand its own game?

Gaming

The Last of Us Online’s cancellation is the right move for Naughty Dog

The second piece of The Last of Us multiplayer concept art shows two players walking toward a beached yacht.

After a long period of silence on the project, and numerous reports of a beleaguered and troubled development, Naughty Dog has finally pulled the plug on its The Last of Us online multiplayer project. It was originally planned as an online mode paired with The Last of Us Part II, much like Factions accompanied the first game. But at some point, the scope and direction of the mode was changed and it was decided that it would be a standalone title. Over three years later, with nothing but concept art shown from the game, it has b4een officially scrapped.

While that may come as a disappointment to Naughty Dog fans looking forward to its take on a live-service game set in The Last of Us universe, its cancellation is a necessity for the company. It's a hard decision that will allow the studio to continue doing what it does best rather than giving in to what's trendy.
Cutting losses
Naughty Dog's official statement on why it decided to halt production on this project paints a very clear picture: the studio wanted to put the same amount of time, care, and ambition into every component of The Last of Us Online as it would a single-player title. After evolving into a full live-service effort, upholding that level of quality would have become the studio's sole focus. Seeing the road it was about to embark on, Naughty Dog had to choose between becoming a studio that only made The Last of Us Online, or one that could continue to create single-player experiences that have helped define PlayStation's modern image. It was both a hard decision and an obvious choice.