Neil Druckmann Leaves HBO’s THE LAST OF US Ahead of Season 3

The head of Naughty Dog and one of the creators behind The Last of Us video game franchise is leaving his own adaptation. Druckmann announced on his studio’s social media accounts that he is leaving the HBO adaptation of his The Last of Us game. In his statement, Druckmann wrote why, but his words will only lead to plenty of speculation over what he might not have said – the real reason he’s no longer part of The Last of Us season three.

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.

Some fans wondered if Druckmann and Mazin were on the same page during the show’s second season. Could any potential creative tension between the two over how to adapt the game have caused this The Last of Us split?

If there’s a reason beyond his stated ones for Druckmann’s departure, that will likely come to light at some point. In a world where George R.R. Martin can go scorched Earth on his own HBO adaptation, it’s hard not to at least consider there’s more going on here. But for now, everyone is saying the “right” things to assure fans that this The Last of Us split and Druckmann departure are all happening amicably. In a statement shared by Variety, Craig Mazin praised his now former co-showrunner.

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.

While we can (and will!) speculate over what actually happened behind-the-scenes on The Last of Us, we don’t actually know what Druckmann’s departure will mean for season three of the series. Ultimately, that will determine just how big a deal this news really is. And that’s the worst news of all. Unfortunately, we won’t find out for a very long time.