The Last of Us Part II trailer song triggers fresh controversy

It appears that Naughty Dog and The Last of Us Part II cannot seem to catch a break with the release of their latest title on the 19th of June, one week from now.

The initial release date of 21st of February, 2020 for The Last of Us Part II was pushed back due to developmental concerns. Then another delay led to it being pushed back to the current release date of 19 June due to the current global pandemic.

If the development wasn't taxing enough on Naughty Dog, a slew of leaks from The Last of Us Part II that contained developmental footage from key moments of the story flooded the internet.

Forums and comment sections all across the internet were flooded with spoilers for the game, and things looked quite grim for Naughty Dog.

However, the studio popular for some of the best video games stated that the pre-orders for the game are still high, even more than Marvel's Spider-Man.

It finally looked like The Last of Us Part II was set for a release and no controversy will pop its head up from out of nowhere. Alas, that was not to be the case.

The Last of Us Part II trailer song 'True Faith' triggers controversy with singer Lotte Kestner

Just about a week ago, Naughty Dog dropped a TV Commercial for The Last of Us Part II that featured a rendition of New Order's hit song from the 80s, 'True Faith' sung by Ashley Johnson.

Ashley Johnson is the actress who plays Ellie. The rendition of the dance-pop hit was drastically different from the original version as the song featured in the trailer was a more brooding and melancholic acoustic version of the song.

It was more similar to the version that singer-songwriter Lotte Kestner had released about 10 years ago.

After discovering that she had not been credited for her version of the song being used in the trailer, Kestner was understandably upset and tweeted to Naughty Dog. A tweet that has since been removed. It read:

"Hey, are you aware that the 'True Faith' cover you put in your Last of Us 2 trailer is a replica of my cover that came out 10 years ago? I wrote original parts not in the original song that are copied exactly by whoever covered it. I am heartbroken"

Neil Druckmann tweeted an apology for this oversight. The game later credited her in the trailer on Youtube. Both parties have made amends since.

So proud this music has found a home in such an amazing project. Thanks to Neil, Naughty Dog and everyone at Sony. https://t.co/FJ2r5Xgbgs

— Lotte Kestner (@lottekestner) June 10, 2020