The Last of Us will be playable as it downloads

Digitally purchased copies of upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive The Last of Us will be playable while the game is still downloading, developer Naughty Dog has confirmed.

Speaking to Game Informer, Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann and The Last of Us game director Bruce Straley said that customers of the digital release will be able to start playing the game once 50 percent of the data has been downloaded.

Being able to play games as they are being downloaded is one of the key new features of Sony's upcoming next-generation PlayStation 4, which will launch later in 2013.

Yesterday The Last of Us' lead artist Nate Wells took to Twtter to praise the game's multiplayer mode. "I wish I could appropriately prepare you people for [The Last of Us]," he said. "But even if I were allowed to, I can't. And I really can't prepare you for the best [multiplayer] ever conceived."

Naughty Dog's latest game went gold this week.

The Last of Us will be released digitally on the PlayStation Store on June 14, the same day as the game's physical release.