The Last of Us game creator and co-showrunner of the HBO smash hit is stepping down from the show. Neil Druckmann is stepping away from his co-showrunner role and confirmed this in a post on developer Naughty Dog’s X account.
He said he wanted to make a clean break before any third season so he could focus on Naughty Dog’s ongoing gaming projects:
“I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last of Us on HBO. With work completed on season 2 and before any meaningful work starts on season 3, now is the right time for me to transition my complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects, including writing and directing our exciting next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, along with my responsibilities as Studio Head and Head of Creative.
Co-creating the show has been a career highlight. It’s been an honor to work alongside Craig Mazin to executive produce, direct and write on the last two seasons. I’m deeply thankful for the thoughtful approach and dedication the talented cast and crew took to adapting The Last of Us Part I and the continued adaptation of The Last of Us Part II.”
Co-showrunner Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) will take over as sole showrunner on the third season. This season is expected ot focus on Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby. He will write the scripts himself.
The second season has been an online talking point. Much like the game sequel, it was met with more of a mixed reaction to the original series. It is still one of HBO’s highest ever-rated shows, but the online commentary has been savage.
A third The Last Of Us game has not been officially announced and Naughty Dog have been coy about any movement on such a project.
