Summary
- Rip-off games of The Last of Us are surfacing, like Forest Ranger Life Simulator which uses Joel’s character model.
- Grizzly Games may face similar repercussions for Forest Ranger Life Simulator if they continue to use Joel’s photo for promotion.
- VG Games faced backlash for making The Last Hope, an obvious The Last of Us clone, causing its removal from Nintendo eShop.
While browsing the PlayStation store, a gamer discovered a strange title that seems to be ripping off The Last of Us. Known for its emotional storytelling and unforgettable cast, The Last of Us revolves around a dystopian America that’s ravaged by an infected population, as well as survivors.
When it first came out in 2013, the Naughty Dog game received acclaim from fans and critics alike, even winning Game of the Year at multiple award shows. Over a decade later, The Last of Us has maintained a dedicated community, despite the many issues of its PC port. The title has since expanded to a DLC, a sequel, and an HBO series starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay.
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The popularity of The Last of Us seems to have led to a few rip-off titles, which Reddit user paintedskie discovered while browsing the PlayStation Store. In a post, they shared a screenshot of Forest Ranger Life Simulator featuring a male character that looks exactly like Joel from The Last of Us. Developed by Grizzly Games Studio, players will be tasked with taking care of a forest and its inhabitants, among other tasks. The game doesn’t seem to have the same dystopian plot as The Last of Us, and just uses Joel as a character model.
Why is Joel Featured in Forest Ranger Life Simulator?
In the comments, many The Last of Us fans found the use of Joel’s picture hilarious. Some also shared that they encountered Forest Ranger Life Simulator as well, saying that this could allegedly be a fake game made by a shady studio. As of writing, Joel’s photo only shows up in the Google search, and Forest Ranger Life Simulator‘s PlayStation Store page uses a photo of a different male character. It’s unknown if the developer changed the photo to avoid further backlash, or if it only used Joel’s photo to get more people to check out its game.
According to the PlayStation Store, Forest Ranger Life Simulator has no release date yet.
This isn’t the first time that a studio shamelessly ripped off The Last of Us. In 2023, VG Games released The Last Hope: Dead Zone Survival for the Nintendo Switch, which features a father-daughter duo fighting to survive a zombie outbreak. It was poorly received by critics due to it being an obvious The Last of Us clone, from the plot, characters, and its cover, and was also accused of releasing deceptive advertising to cover up its frustrating gameplay. In just two months, The Last Hope was removed from the Nintendo eShop and Sony Interactive Entertainment flagged its trailers on YouTube.
Considering what happened to The Last Hope, Grizzly Games might also deal with the same backlash from The Last of Us fans and Sony for Forest Ranger Life Simulator. Especially if the studio continues to use Joel’s photo for the game’s promotional materials.
The Last of Us Part 1
Experience the emotional storytelling and unforgettable characters in The Last of Us, winner of over 200 Game of the Year awards.
In a ravaged civilization, where infected and hardened survivors run rampant, Joel, a weary protagonist, is hired to smuggle 14-year-old Ellie out of a military quarantine zone. However, what starts as a small job soon transforms into a brutal cross-country journey.
Includes the complete The Last of Us single-player story and celebrated prequel chapter, Left Behind, which explores the events that changed the lives of Ellie and her best friend Riley forever.