Recently, a Nintendo Switch game called The Last Hope: Dead Zone Survival caught the internet’s attention, particularly because it looked like a shoddy knock-off of The Last of Us. Well, it turns out this poorly received title has now been pulled from Nintendo’s eShop.
According to a report from Eurogamer, VG Games’ open-world post-apocalyptic shooter is no longer available on the storefront. In fact, attempting to go directly to the download page for The Last Hope will only return an error. Searching for it won’t do any good either, proving that the Last of Us clone has all but been erased.
The report goes on to say that the game’s removal was the result of Sony issuing a copyright strike, though at the time of writing, the PlayStation manufacturer doesn’t appear to have made any statement about this. It also appears as though trailers are being taken down, though you can still find some on YouTube, along with gameplay footage.
Even the developer doesn’t acknowledge the game
For those who haven’t seen it, The Last Hope unashamedly takes inspiration from Naughty Dog’s critically acclaimed series. Proof of this can be seen in the young girl who’s pretty much the spitting image of Ellie.
According to Wikipedia, the game’s plot follows Jason Lee (no, not that one), who’s been “sent to the future as part of a governmental investigation on an inevitable zombie outbreak.” Along the way, he happens upon a young Eva (or possibly Eve) who needs to be escorted across the city. Digital Foundry reviewed the game a couple of weeks ago, deeming it “one of the worst” releases they’d ever played.
As for the studio itself, it doesn’t appear as though there’s any trace of its game on the developer website or any of its social media channels, save for maybe one promotional image. There’s certainly nothing to suggest The Last Hope was front and center in any case.
It’s easy to speculate why VG Games may have been quiet about this game in the first place, or why all traces of it are being quickly scrubbed from the internet. No comments have been made from Nintendo, Sony, nor VG Games as of this writing, but it certainly is an oddity.
