In a major shakeup, The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann has stepped away from the series and will not be involved in the upcoming third season.
Druckmann, who co-created The Last of Us alongside showrunner Craig Mazin and wrote and directed several episodes, announced his departure in a post on Naughty Dog's official Instagram account. The news was first reported by The Ankler.
"I've made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last of Us on HBO," Druckmann's statement reads. "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."
Druckmann went on to praise his time working on the show, calling it "a career highlight" and writing: "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."
Mazin addressed Druckmann's exit in a press statement, saying, "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."
Druckmann will still be credited as an executive producer on The Last of Us.
