The Last of Us is officially bigger than House of the Dragon for HBO viewership

(Image credit: HBO)

The Last of Us has officially surpassed Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon in viewership numbers on HBO. The finale, which aired on March 12, amassed 8.2 million viewers, according to the network.

The number of viewers has continued to climb week on week – The Last of Us episode 1 was watched by 4.7 million people, so watch figures have climbed by nearly 75% over the past nine weeks.

Over the course of the first six episodes, the series has averaged 30.4 million viewers per episode, whereas House of the Dragon had an average viewership of 29 million while episodes were releasing between August and October 2022 (via The Hollywood Reporter). This is the highest average figure since Game of Thrones season 7, which had an average viewership of 32.5 million per episode when it aired back in 2017.

The Last of Us has already been renewed for season 2, and the next installment will adapt The Last of Us Part 2, the follow-up video game released in 2020 – or part of it, at least. It's been confirmed that the game will be adapted across multiple seasons. By contrast, the events of the first game were covered fully in season 1.

While we wait for Joel and Ellie's story to continue on the small screen in The Last of Us season 2, fill out your watch list with our guide to all the other best new TV shows coming our way in 2023 and beyond.

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.