The Last of Us 2 Grounded and Permadeath Easter egg discovered by players who managed to reach the end credits

The Last of us 2 deals prices — (Image credit: Sony/Naughty Dog)

Completing The Last of Us 2 on the new Grounded or Permadeath mode rewards you with an exclusive end credits Easter egg, players have discovered following the game's new update, which introduced the difficulty settings in addition to a number of bonus features.

As evidenced in the footage posted on Twitter below, beating The Last of Us Part 2 on its Grounded setting (which removes much of the user interface and player guidance prompts) unlocks access to the full version of Joel's rendition of Future Days by Pearl Jam, which he sings in part during the early stages of the campaign and acts as a key connective theme for the rest of the story.

Beat #TLOU2 on grounded, hear Joel sing full version of Future Days! @TLOUstrategist @arnemeyer @BadData_ #PS4share pic.twitter.com/hMbRQOYG3CAugust 19, 2020

The Last of Us 2's best moments are its quiet ones

Another player also reported (though without any video evidence) that completing The Last of Us 2 campaign with permadeath activated will play Shawn James' Through the Valley - the song Ellie plays in the game's first reveal trailer - over the end credits instead.

The song that played at the end of the campaign before the update (and will still appear when completing the game on other any setting) is Johnny Cash's Wayfaring Stranger, which both Ellie and Joel sing together.

It's a nice touch from Naughty Dog, and yet another newly discovered secret to add to the growing list of those found in its PS4 exclusive, alongside the recently unearthed cameo from the game's lead writers, Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross.

If you think you've found another undiscovered secret in what we reckon is the best PS4 exclusive of all time, be sure to let us know in the comments below.