The Last of Us has been thoroughly examined and picked clean since its original release in 2013, which is expected for a game of that quality and fitting for an apocalyptic experience all about scavenging. But it looks like most players missed a small but weird Easter egg that has just resurfaced. This The Last of Us cordyceps ant Easter egg is quite odd yet easy to do so here’s how to do it.
How to do The Last of Us cordyceps ant Easter egg
To see the Last of Us cordyceps ant picture, players have to start a new game for The Last of Us. A new save works just fine. This also works on both the PS3 original as well as the PS4 remaster.
Skip the first cutscene and then watch the short scene where Sarah talks to Tommy. After hanging up the phone, go straight downstairs.
After getting off the last stair, pause the game and exit to the menu. Restarting from a checkpoint or the last encounter does not work. Players must go to the main menu.
Once there, continue the save and then wait for it to load. After taking control of Sarah at the bottom of the stairs, go back upstairs and into Joel’s room with the TV.
Instead of static, there should be a real-life picture of an ant infected with the cordyceps fungus on the TV.
Speedrunner Anthony Caliber brought attention to this Easter egg after posting it to his YouTube page. A handful of users in the comments spoke about seeing this before, but many had not. It appears as though this ant is from the game’s 2012 teaser trailer at the one second mark, albeit turned upside down. Naughty Dog has not spoken about this image and it remains to be seen if something similar is also hidden somewhere in The Last of Us 2. Perhaps some other streamer will stumble upon it in 2027.