The Last of Us Part 1 uses Denuvo, a highly aggressive DRM. As of this writing, the game has not been fully cracked by major scene groups like RUNE or EMPRESS for several of the later, stable updates. Many so-called "SteamRIP" downloads are actually fake installers that contain malware, or they are the original, broken pre-crack files that crash within the first 10 minutes of gameplay. You might spend 8 hours downloading a 78GB file only to find it fails at the main menu.

If you own a PS4 or PS5, used discs of The Last of Us Part I (PS5 version) or the Remastered (PS4) cost as little as $10–$20.