PlayStation UK told Inde Navarrette “We’re obsessed” after old Last of Us streams resurfaced

Inde Navarrette is getting PlayStation’s attention in the most internet way possible: her old streams resurfaced, fans rediscovered her playthrough of The Last of Us, and PlayStation UK jumped into the comment stream with the line, “We’re obsessed.” IGN reports that Navarrette, who is now the breakout star of Focus Features' horror film Obsession, went viral for gaming livestream clips that include Sony hit The Last of Us, with her partial playthrough reportedly racking up over 650,000 views in just three days.

That timing matters because it landed right when Obsession was already doing real damage at the box office. Last month, a brand new horror movie called Obsession was released. It was made for just $750,000 before Focus Features picked it up for distribution. Since then, the film has made over $200 million at the box office, one of the most profitable movies ever made, and it has catapulted the careers of first-time director Curry Barker and star Inde Navarrette. Put simply: a film hit is amplifying a gaming discovery, and the gaming discovery is feeding back into the film’s cultural visibility.

Here is what fans found. According to IGN, viewers quickly discovered that the actress had once streamed games on Twitch, including Call of Duty and single-player games like The Last of Us and Outlast. However, it seems all the videos have been pulled from the channel. Then, a YouTube channel under her name appeared earlier this month, uploading past streams. IGN notes it is unclear if the YouTube channel is actually owned by Navarrette or if someone else is capitalizing on her old content, but the content is still visible, and the algorithm is doing what it always does when the right mix of nostalgia and gameplay lands.

The strategic twist is that PlayStation was not a silent bystander. PlayStation UK's X account replied “We’re obsessed,” reacting to the viral moment around her old gameplay. That is a small sentence, but it is a big signal. When platform operators respond directly to creator virality, it turns a fan-driven rediscovery into a branded interaction. For decision-makers, that matters because it shows how quickly “owned” marketing channels can get pulled into “earned” conversations, especially when the conversation is about beloved games like The Last of Us.

This is not just a social media story. It is also a creator career story and a cross-media distribution story. Obsession, the film, centers on Navarrette playing a young woman who becomes erratic after her friend wishes for her to fall in love with him. IGN reports that she charmed audiences with her performance, and separately she has been building an audience outside of film. That combination is increasingly valuable, because it blurs the line between entertainment categories. Gaming communities can become casting amplification engines. Film fandom can become creator discovery funnels. And the internet can do it fast, in days, not quarters.

So why is this moment meaningful right now? Because Navarrette’s background tracks a familiar pattern, and patterns are what platforms and studios watch for repeatability. In a recent interview with GQ, Navarrette talked about growing up with video games and eventually starting streaming during downtime. IGN includes details like starting on PS2, playing Shrek games in Big Head mode with her mom, and playing Call of Duty with her older brother Amani, who was into Halo. She also mentioned branching off to campaign games, later building her own PC during COVID, and that watching YouTubers growing up, like Markiplier, helped her think, “If I’m not working on a show and I love playing video games by myself and I love playing with friends, then why not stream?” IGN reports she said it became a lot of fun.

For stakeholders, there are second-order implications hiding in those details. First, there is the content lifecycle issue: Twitch videos being pulled, then reappearing via YouTube uploads, creates uncertainty around rights and control. IGN is clear that it is unclear whether the YouTube channel is owned by her. That uncertainty can matter for studios and platforms because misaligned ownership can create reputational friction, moderation complexity, and potential legal exposure, even when the content is “just old streams.” Second, there is the engagement spillover. The Last of Us partial playthrough garnering 650,000-plus views in three days shows that old gameplay can function like new promotional content, especially when the creator is suddenly newly famous thanks to a box office hit.

Third, there is scheduling reality. IGN reports it does not seem like Navarrette is active on Twitch these days, which is not surprising given she is likely busy after Obsession’s success. Whether she will have time to stream again remains to be seen, but for now there is a surplus of older content for fans to dig into. That means the “activation” may be happening without additional effort from her, which is both a gift for audience growth and a stress test for how brand partnerships should be planned. Do you treat creator virality as a temporary spike, or do you build structures to capture longer-term attention when creators inevitably get busy?

And for peers in film, gaming, and media partnerships, this is a live case study. Obsession was made for $750,000 and then became an over-$200 million box office success after Focus Features distribution. That kind of ROI is the dream, but the cultural lift is the harder part to replicate. Here, one driver is clear: a breakout actress’s gaming past turned into a viral discovery, and PlayStation chose to respond publicly, with a simple “We’re obsessed.” In a world where audience attention is stolen in seconds, that is what winning looks like: an old stream becomes a present-tense moment, and suddenly two fandoms are sharing the same feed.