Neil Druckmann, the co-creator of The Last of Us show on HBO, is pulling back from the show’s production to focus on Naughty Dog games.
In a note to the Naughty Dog community, Druckmann said, “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 time for me to transition my complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects.
Those tasks include writing and directing for the next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, along with his responsibilities and studio head and head of creative.
“Co-creating the show has been a career highlight,” Druckmann said. “It’s been an honor to work alongside Craig Mazin to executive produce, direct and write 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.”
I’ve always thought this was a necessary move for Druckmann. He can now trust HBO to get it right. But he probably ought to launch something like The Last of Us Part 3 to stay ahead of the ending of the series of games, as the show is going to speed right along into new territory pretty soon, just like what happened with Game of Thrones on HBO , which passed up George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novels.
Season 2 of The Last of Us took us right through half of The Last of Us Part 2. Update: 12:17 a.m. Pacific on 7/3/2025: Halley Gross, a key writer on The Last of Us Part 2, also is stepping back from the HBO show to focus on Naughty Dog content.
