‘The Last Of Us’ Co-Creator Neil Druckmann To Step Back Creatively From HBO Series Ahead Of Season 3

Neil Druckmann, who co-created and directed the Naughty Dog video games for Sony Playstation and has been quite hands on throughout the first two seasons of the TV adaptation, will take a step back from the series creatively for Season 3, sources confirm to Deadline.

Per sources, Druckmann will not write or direct any Season 3 episodes. He will continue to serve as a co-creator and executive producer.

“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,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “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 of the thoughtful approach and dedication the talented cast and crew took to adapting The Last of Us Part I and their continued adaptation of The Last of Us Part II.”

He ended his statement by saying he is looking forward “to HBO and PlayStation Productions continuing Ellie and Abby’s story next season.”

In addition to Druckmann, executive producer and writer Halley Gross will also be exiting the series. Gross, who co-wrote 

The Last of Us Part II and was involved in the second season of the adaptation, announced she would be stepping back from her day-to-day duties on the series “to make space for what comes next” via a social media statement shortly after the news of Druckmann’s departure broke.

“Working alongside Neil, Craig, HBO and this remarkable cast and crew has been life changing,” she wrote. “The stories we told — about love, loss and what it means to be human in a terrifying world — are exactly why I love this franchise.”

It’s unclear how the series might be impacted by both Druckmann’s and Gross’ lack of involvement with Season 3.

Throughout the first two seasons, Druckmann especially was positioned quite well working alongside showrunner Craig Mazin to ensure the HBO series retained the DNA of the video games. He is credited as a writer or co-writer on five episodes and has directed two, including the penultimate episode of Season 2. Gross was brought on during Season 2, since she had a hand in the video game, and co-wrote several episodes.

In a statement on his own, Mazin said: “It’s been a creative dream to work with Neil and bring an adaptation of his brilliant work to life on HBO. I couldn’t have asked for a more generous creative partner. As a true fan of Naughty Dog and Neil’s work in video games, I’m beyond excited to play his next game. While he focuses on that, I’ll continue to work with our brilliant cast and crew to deliver the show our audience has come to expect. We are so grateful to Neil and Halley Gross for entrusting the incredible story of 

The Last of Us Part II to us, and we’re just as grateful to the millions of people around the world who tune in.”

Season 3 is expected to continue the story from the sequel game 

The Last of Us Part II. The second season ended on a cliffhanger, teasing that Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby would be the focus of the upcoming installment. So far, HBO has not said whether the third season will be the last.

Based on Naughty Dog’s award-winning video game, The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, played by Pedro Pascal, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal and heartbreaking journey as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

Season 2 picks up five years after the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie are drawn into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.