Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann has introduced he’s stepping away from HBO’s The Last of Us.
In a press release on social media, Druckmann mentioned it was “the correct time” to transition to focus on future projects at Naughty Dog, together with Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
“With work accomplished on season 2 and earlier than any significant work begins on season 3, now could be the correct time for me to transition my full focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects, together with writing and directing Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet together with my tasks as studio head and head of artistic,” he defined.
“Co-creating the present has been a profession spotlight. It has been an honour to work alongside Craig Mazin to government produce, direct, and write on the final two seasons.
Druckmann concluded: “I am deeply grateful for the considerate method and dedication the proficient solid and crew took adapting The Last of Us Half 1 and the continued adaptation of The Last of Us Half 2.”
Govt producer and author Halley Gross additionally introduced her departure on Instagram. She co-wrote The Last of Us Half 2 with Druckmann.
“With nice care and consideration, I’ve determined to take a step back from my day-to-day work on HBO’s The Last of Us to make area for what comes subsequent,” she wrote.
“I am so appreciative of how particular this expertise has been. Working alongside Neil, Craig, HBO, and this exceptional solid and crew has been raise altering. The tales we instructed – about love, loss, and what it means to be human in a terrifying world – are precisely why I really like this franchise.”
Gross added: “I’ve some really rad projects forward that I can not wait to share, however for now, I need to specific my gratitude to everybody who introduced Ellie and Joel’s world to life with such care.”
In response to Druckmann and Gross’ exits, The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin mentioned he was “grateful to Neil and Halley for entrusting us with this unbelievable story”.
“It has been a artistic dream to work with Neil and convey an adaptation of his good work to life on HBO,” mentioned Mazin (through Variety).
“I could not have requested for a extra beneficiant artistic accomplice. As a real fan of Naughty Dog and Neil’s work in video video games, I am past excited to play his subsequent recreation. Whereas he focuses on that, I will proceed to work with our good solid and crew to ship the present our viewers has come to anticipate.”
Mazin continued: “We’re so grateful to Neil and Halley for entrusting us the unbelievable story of The Last of Us Half 2 to us, and we’re simply as grateful to the hundreds of thousands of individuals around the globe who tune in.”
HBO’s The Last of Us was renewed for a 3rd season forward of its second sequence premiere this April. Scores for season two grew by 10%, with 5.3 million viewers tuning in to its first episode.
The Last of Us adaptation was introduced in 2020, and was the primary tv sequence produced by PlayStation Productions.