The Last of Us / Sony
It’s hard to understand how this is possible, but Sony is working on making game scents accessible on PlayStation.
At CES 2025, Sony showcased a technology concept called Future Immersive Entertainment Concept — essentially, a giant VR cube with LED panels and the ability to feel the sounds, smells, and atmosphere of the gaming world. For the demonstration, they chose The Last of Us by Naughty Dog and allowed players inside the “room” to experience the scent of the infected (which, apparently, is nothing but the smell of decay) and the rest of the surroundings.
Of course, this is just a concept and it’s many years (if at all) and a lot of money away from mass production, but it seems that Sony has quite serious plans — two years ago the company patented a game smell feature in the style of Smell-O-Vision, which involves the use of special aroma cartridges.
Recall that in 2013, Microsoft created a scent-based controller for Xbox One, and ten years later announced “the world’s first pizza-scented controllers” to celebrate the release of the movie “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
Naughty Dog first released The Last of Us in 2013, and the continuation of the series, The Last of Us Part II, debuted in 2020 and is currently preparing for a PC release in a “remastered” edition. In recent years, the franchise has been reaching an increasingly larger audience, particularly thanks to the HBO series starring Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal in the lead roles. The premiere of the second season is scheduled for April 2025 (the latest trailer can be viewed here), and the third season is already in development.