Naughty Dog responds to the abuse and harassment of those who worked on The Last of Us 2

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"We must all work together to root out this type of behavior and maintain a constructive and compassionate discourse"

(Image credit: Naughty Dog)

Naughty Dog has issued a statement condemning the abuse and threats that have been bombarding the developers and actors who worked on its latest release, The Last of Us 2.

"Although we welcome critical discussion, we condemn any form of harassment or threats directed towards our team and cast," the studio said in a tweet issued earlier today. 

"Their safety is our top priority, but we must all work together to root out this type of behavior and maintain a constructive and compassionate discourse."

"As the people that propagate this kind of hate would say, how stunning and brave!" added Naughty Dog VP and writer of The Last of Us 2, Neil Druckmann, on Twitter (thanks, Eurogamer). "I hope these gamers get the mental help they so clearly need. Unfortunately this is now the cost of making popular entertainment that challenges conventions. Laura doesn't deserve any of this."

The tweet was accompanied by a quote-tweet from Laura Bailey, the voice actor who provided the voice and motion capture of The Last of Us Part 2 antagonist, Abby, who has endured shocking threats and abuse since some plot spoilers of the game were leaked ahead of its release last month.

The Last of Us 2 is the UK's fastest-selling PS4 exclusive of all time, already breaking sales records, as early retail data from the UK shows Naughty Dog's PS4 exclusive has already jumped to the top of the country's boxed charts. 

The numbers also make it the biggest UK launch of the year so far for boxed games, beating Animal Crossing: New Horizons by 40 per cent and it's own predecessor - 2013's The Last of Us - by 76 per cent.

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Vikki Blake
Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, GamesRadar+

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.