It is no secret that LGBT themes are important within the narrative of The Last of Us Part II. Only in these years has the idea that an LGBT character is the protagonist of a narrative become more normalized. The idea of Ellie being a gay character received a lot of attention with the downloadable content from the first installment. So, as her prominence grows with the sequel and her age also increases, her sexual orientation is a bigger part of the narrative. Some are not happy about that, but their director doesn’t mind criticism.

In an interview with Eurogamer , Neil Druckmann, the director of The Last of Us Part II, was asked about diversity. Specifically, Druckmann was asked what he thinks about people who reject any representation of diversity within his entertainment products. This director said:

We had an affair with Ellie … she is now 19 … she is sexually attracted to the people she is attracted to. These are things we want to explore with this character – this is how we make honest narratives. So if you have a problem with this, well, that sucks, but history is going to win for us. It’s ironic or perhaps sad – I think the people who would benefit most from these kinds of stories are the loudest people right now, but I hope there is enough in this game to get their attention and normalize things that are normal. They are part of our society.

It is an interesting point. The effect that the media have on the normalization of identities is something that has been studied. The Last of Us Part II will launch on June 26 for the PlayStation 4.