The Dark Age Of PlayStation (2005-2008)

Pulling Ahead In The Final Stretch

When it came to the final years of the PlayStation 3, it was a case of rounding off the seventh generation with a strong line-up while avoiding any issues that could break the trust of consumers. It came down to three major titles to accomplish this; Gran Turismo 6, Beyond: Two Souls and The Last of Us.

The first two of these achieved recognition in their own right, but it was Naughty Dog's magnum opus that delivered the most exceptional send-off the PS3 could have hoped for. Naughty Dog's tale of Joel and Ellie trekking across a ruined post-apocalyptic United States was a smash hit both critically and commercially. Just as Uncharted 2 had persuaded gamers to run out and buy the console, The Last of Us assured them beyond a shadow of a doubt that Sony was now worth sticking with.

Sliding into the best-selling games on the PS3, The Last of Us was a major propellant that allowed Sony to finally overtake Microsoft in the generation's home stretch. With the eighth generation of consoles on the horizon, the console had pushed beyond 80 million units sold by October 2013.

As the Xbox 360's line-up of exclusives started to fizzle out, the PlayStation 3 remained firmly committed to its first-party titles, a trend they have carried through to this day.