‘The Last of Us 2’ devs quickly rectifies overlooked uncredited song used

Naughty Dog was quick to rectify any controversy that may loom The Last of Us 2 before it even launches. There was a song that was used without giving the proper credit.

A new trailer of The Last of Us 2 featured Ellie singing an acoustic version of New Order’s “True Faith.” As it turns out, Ellie’s rendition was similar to that of a singer’s version of the song.

The Last of Us 2 song controversy

The controversy started when Washington-based singer/songwriter Lotte Kestner took it to social media to point out the similarities of her version of “True Faith” and that of Ellie’s.

Kestner reportedly called out Naughty Dog and TLOU 2 creative director Neil Druckmann on Twitter saying that the “version used in the game’s trailer a ‘replica’ of her track, released in 2011 on her album Stolen.”

GameSpot caught Kestner’s now-deleted tweet, saying, “Hey, are you aware the 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?”

Devs quick to rectify mistake

Nevertheless, Druckmann immediately apologized to the singer for the unintentional oversight of crediting Kestner for the “True Faith” acoustic inspiration.

The TLOU 2 director announced on Twitter that, “Ellie’s rendition of ‘True Faith’ was inspired by Lotte Kestner’s haunting cover of the song. Due to an oversight on our end, she wasn’t credited as intended.” He then expressed his sincere forgiveness, saying, “Our deep apologies — we are rectifying this ASAP. We hope that @lottekestner receives the recognition she deserves.”

Later on, it appears that The Last of Us 2 team did the right thing and made amends with the “heartbroken” singer. Aside from deleting her original tweet, Kestner posted a tweet update thanking Druckmann, Naughty Dog, and Sony instead, for acknowledging her music, giving it a “home.”

Now, many may wonder as to what was replicated. IGN points out that Kestner’s cover had a “hummed vocal segment,” which was also heard on the TLOU 2 trailer but with Ellie’s voice.

The “hummed melody” was not part of the original version of “True Faith” made famous by New Order in 1987.

Meanwhile, Druckmann told British GQ about the hardships they went through to get the rights to Pearl Jam’s song “Future Days” that was part of the band’s 2013 album entitled “Lightning Bolt.”

Fortunately, they were able to reach the assistant of the band’s manager and was able to convince the manager to consider their plea.

Featured image courtesy of PlayStation/YouTube Screenshot