Naughty Dog removing real-world phone-sex numbers from The Last of Us

Naughty Dog has pledged to remove real-world phone-sex numbers spotted within the developer's latest game, The Last of Us.

A Kotaku reader spotted a bulletin board from the game's virtual Pittsburgh that includes two phone numbers for "Pest Control." However, these numbers are not Easter eggs, but rather real-world phone-sex hotlines.

"That was an artist's mistake," creative director Neil Druckmann said. "What happened was, they put some phone numbers in the game and then they thought they could just change the area code to 555, then it's invalid because it's what they do in movies. But I guess that doesn't work when you have a 1-800 in front of it."

"We're now working to take it out," he added. "It was just an honest mistake."

The Last of Us was praised upon release earlier this month exclusively on the PlayStation 3, but the game has not been without its share of controversy.

Inception and Juno star Ellen Page accused Naughty Dog of "ripping off" her likeness for the game's Ellie character. In addition, an artist lashed out at the developer for reportedly using his redesigned MBTA map in The Last of Us without compensating him.