Last of Us Demo Won’t Unlock Until May

Even though God of War: Ascension comes with exclusive early access to Naughty Dog's The Last of Us demo, it won't be available until May 31st at 12PM EST.

Sony Santa Monica's God of War: Ascension arrives on March 12th. It was announced back in January that the fourth console sequel would include a demo of The Last of Us. Most of the PlayStation faithful were delighted to learn they'd get an early look at the anticipated post-apocalyptic thriller with their copies of the latest God of War. It was a smart marketing move by Sony to pay tribute to both exclusive franchises. Then it all went horribly wrong.

On February 13th, Naughty Dog confirmed The Last of Us' release would be delayed from May 7th to June 14th. Okay. No biggie. We'd still get an early demo to tide us over. Except now this "early" demo, which should have been available nearly two months from release, wouldn't be coming until the end of May. As IGN indicated, there's a countdown clock on the God of War: Ascension disc where The Last of Us demo should be, and it is ticking down to May 31st. Naughty Dog also confirmed this latest turn of events on Twitter, meaning The Last of Us demo would only be out a mere two weeks before the full game released.

It's a shame that everyone loses in this situation. Naughty Dog loses because the game was already delayed, and now fans will be disappointed even further. Sony loses because the publisher's next big game will be easily overshadowed by E3 2013. Most of all, fans lose because we'll be continuing to miss out on The Last of Us for the next two-and-a-half months.