Something to look forward to: AMD will soon tempt new graphics card/PC buyers to opt for team red over team green by jumping on The Last of Us bandwagon. Its upcoming promotion will reward RDNA 2 and RDNA 3 purchases with a free copy of The Last of Us Part 1, which arrives on PC in a few weeks.
Update: AMD's The Last of Us Part 1/Radeon RX graphics card bundle deal is now live. It runs until April 15, 2023. The redemption deadline is May 13th, 2023
HBO's The Last of Us has proved to be a massive hit, drawing acclaim from critics and viewers alike: 8.1 million people tuned in to the penultimate episode on Sunday night, a 74% increase over the series debut.
AMD is taking advantage of the franchise's popularity by launching a new game bundle that packs The Last of Us Part 1 with one of its cards. Unlike the previous deal that gave Radeon RX 6000-series buyers Dead Island 2 and The Callisto Protocol (that ended on February 4), the new offer not only includes all Radeon RX 6000 desktop cards, right down to the Radeon RX 6400, but also covers the RDNA 3-powered Radeon RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT. Certain prebuilt PC systems featuring the GPUs are also included.
The Last of Us Part 1, an upgraded version of the 2013 stealth/action/horror classic, arrived on the PlayStation 5 last September to mostly positive reviews - it has a Metacritic score of 88. The new version offers enhanced gameplay along with graphical upgrades, improved character and enemy AI, more accessibility features, better audio options, and more. It was originally set to release on PC on March 3 but developer Naughty Dog decided to push the launch back to March 28.
There's no statement from AMD about when its new bundle will go live. The promotion was showing on Ebuyer earlier today but now appears to have been removed, so expect an official reveal to arrive soon (Update: it's now live).
In addition to helping clear excess Radeon RX 6000 stock, the promotion should help AMD get more Radeon RX 7900 cards into the hands of gamers. While rival Nvidia's Lovelace series has started breaking into the main Steam survey, RDNA 3 still isn't found in enough participants' PCs to qualify.