The Last of Us Part 2’s free PS5 upgrade is available right now

By Giovanni Colantonio May 19, 2021

A free performance patch for The Last of Us Part 2 that upgrades the game for the PlayStation 5 is available now. The update primarily brings frame rate enhancements to the game.

The Last of Us Part 2 launched just a few months before the PS5’s release. Considering it was 2020’s biggest release, a next-gen patch seemed imminent. Sony has now surprise launched the anticipated update, Patch 1.08, wand it is available right now.

The patch is free to anyone who owns The Last of Us Part 2. The most significant enhancement is that it targets 60 frames per second, instead of 30. Once downloaded, players can jump into the game’s display options and toggle between the two frame rates.

In a blog post, Sony notes that the update goes hand in hand with the basic enhancements available through backward compatibility on the PS5. It notes that players can already experience “enhanced resolution, faster load times, and more” for the game on PS5.

Sony implies that more patches to other games could be coming soon. It calls this a “first step of working on the PS5” and says it will have more news to share soon. It’s not exactly clear if Sony is planning more updates to The Last of Us Part 2 or if it just plans to make similar upgrades to other PS4 games.

In our review of The Last of Us Part 2, we praised the game’s already stunning visuals. “The visuals of The Last of Us Part II are, quite simply, magnificent,” we said. “I played on a base PlayStation 4 with HDR on, and I was floored that I wasn’t playing in 4K. It really looks that good.”

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Giovanni Colantonio

Section Editor, Gaming

Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…

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Note: Spoilers for The Last of Us TV show and The Last of Us Part II video game to follow.
At the climax of The Last of Us Season 1's final episode, we see Joel annihilate most of the Fireflies and doctors at the Salt Lake City hospital as they prepare to operate on Ellie to get a cure, which would have killed her in the process. It's a chilling sequence that hits the same dubious, morally horrifying notes as it did in the game, and little is changed.
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By adding in that extra shot, the finale more confidently sets that up. Even if casual viewers don't know it yet, the groundwork is being laid for something that will be very important in the next season and makes it clear that the show knows where it's going.
The finale further teases what's to come with a smart bit of casting. Eagle-eyed fans may notice that one of the nurses during the scene is played by Laura Bailey, who portrays Abby in The Last of Us Part II. It's likely just the show paying tribute to the game's cast (as it did in episode 8 with Troy Baker, who voiced Joel in the video games), but it's also another way to tease what's to come in the next season. Abby is coming for Joel. Prepare your golf balls.
Of course, when Naughty Dog released The Last of Us in 2013, it didn't yet know that this doctor would play such a pivotal part in the sequel's story, so not as much focus was put on him in the game. The developers retroactively tried to correct this with a retelling of the sequence from Abby's perspective in The Last of Us Part II and updated models in the game's remake.
Showrunners Craig Maizin and Neil Druckmann have the benefit of knowing this moment's importance from the start and not being locked to Joel's third-person perspective. They can now take the time to linger with a shot like this, emphasizing what Joel has done and laying the groundwork for what comes next. It's a short and subtle shot that slightly deviates from the original game, but it's also something that could only be done in this TV show and will certainly be hugely important for the show as we head into season 2.
The Last of Us is available to stream on HBO Max.