Say you really like a game, and in that game, your character comes across a cool, cute stuffed animal. Makes sense that you'd want to re-create it in real life and give it to the people who made the game, right?
SPOILERS: This plushie is itself a sort of Last of Us spoiler. I know that sounds weird, but if you don't want to know about a big moment in the game, stop here.
The plushie in question comes from Anna The Red, who details the long process of making it in a post on her site. She saw this giraffe plushie in the game:
Being a master plushie-maker, Anna decided to make a real one, bring it to PAX, and give it to Naughty Dog developers Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann, who were giving a panel there.
After no small amount of work, here's what she came up with:
She finished it just in time for PAX, where she gave it to Straley (L) and Druckmann (R):
Aww! The stuffed giraffe, of course, is a hidden bit of foreshadowing referencing the game's cathartic giraffe scene. A scene that as it turns out, almost starred deer, instead. A deer plushie would have been cool, but not as cool as a giraffe, so it's good that Naughty Dog made the choice they did.
You can read the full story of the plushie over at Anna The Red's site.