The Last of Us: Game of the Year Edition PS3 Bundle Spotted with Release Date

New PS3 Bundle Listed on Amazon

A new PlayStation 3 hardware bundle appeared in a retail listing on Amazon France, suggesting a potential “Game of the Year Edition” of The Last of Us was planned for the console. The product page, which surfaced in October 2014, detailed a package containing the console and two of developer Naughty Dog’s most acclaimed titles for the system.

The bundle was built around the ultra-slim 12 GB PlayStation 3. This was the most basic version of the PS3’s third hardware revision, known as the “Super Slim,” which used internal flash memory instead of a larger hard disk drive. While this kept the entry price low, users could install a separate hard drive for more storage.

Alongside the console, the package included a copy of The Last of Us: Game of the Year Edition and the “Essential” re-release of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. The “PlayStation Essentials” line is the European and PAL region’s equivalent of the “Greatest Hits” budget branding used in North America, signifying a popular game sold at a reduced price. The Amazon listing showed a release date of November 5, 2014.

Contents of the Game of the Year Edition

The retail listing did not provide specific details on what the Game of the Year Edition of The Last of Us would contain. However, it was widely expected to mirror the contents of The Last of Us Remastered, which had launched on the PlayStation 4 earlier that year. The PS4 version bundled the original game with all its major downloadable content.

If the PS3 re-release followed this model, it would include the single-player story expansion, Left Behind. This acclaimed prequel chapter focuses on Ellie’s life before she met Joel, detailing her experiences with her friend Riley in a Boston quarantine zone. The inclusion of this DLC alone would offer a significant addition to the main game.

Multiplayer content would also likely be part of the package. This would consist of the Abandoned Territories Map Pack, which added four multiplayer maps (Bookstore, Hometown, Bus Depot, and Suburbs), and the Grounded Bundle. The Grounded Bundle was a substantial pack that introduced the brutally difficult “Grounded” difficulty mode for the campaign, along with the Reclaimed Territories Map Pack and several new survival skills and weapons for the Factions multiplayer mode.

An Official Holiday Push?

It was not immediately clear from the listing if this was an official bundle manufactured by Sony or a custom package assembled by the retailer. However, the timing suggested it could have been an official product intended for the holiday shopping season. By late 2014, the PlayStation 4 had been on the market for a year, but the PS3 remained a popular and more affordable alternative with a massive game library.

Creating a high-value bundle with two of the platform’s defining titles would have been a logical strategy for Sony to drive PS3 hardware sales during the competitive Black Friday and holiday period. Packaging a complete version of The Last of Us with another blockbuster like Uncharted 3 would have presented a compelling value for consumers who had not yet upgraded to the newer console.