The story chef behind The Last of Us has had enough of the HBO series. He is no longer working on Season 3 – he wants to return to working on games.
The creative director behind the two “The Last of Us” games is stepping back from the HBO series after the second season. He wants to fully dedicate himself to video games again. This leaves fans worried about the next season.
What was said? On the Naughty Dog’s Instagram account, Druckmann revealed that he is stepping back from the creative work on the “The Last of Us” series. It was stated there:
I have made the difficult decision to step away from the creative collaboration on the HBO series of The Last of Us. Now that the work on Season 2 is complete, […] it is the right time to refocus all my attention back on Naughty Dog and future projects, such as our exciting next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, along with my responsibilities as head of the studio and creative lead.
How was Season 2 received? The Last of Us Season 2 has generated considerably less buzz than the first season. Even though the early episodes received good ratings (on IMDb), the behavior of the protagonist is heavily criticized later in the season. Unlike in the game, many feel that Ellie acts thoughtlessly and even “foolishly”.
Especially the fact that she receives therapeutic help for trauma and violence coping beforehand seems obscure, considering that the lack of exactly that help actually dominates a significant part of the game’s plot.
Season 2 fell short of expectations
Fans are concerned, welcome the step: The news comes to fans with mixed feelings. Many fear that the series will now become significantly weaker – but many also believe that now is the right time, as Season 2 has already shown that the story of the game could not be properly adapted as a series. Most comments on Reddit are therefore rather cynical. Some of the comments:
- “Season 1 was great. I really wished they had split it into 2 seasons so we could have more of it.
Season 2 reminded me of the worst seasons of The Walking Dead.” – lostinadream66 - “A bit too late, LMAO” – Lerium
- “I have wanted him to do this for a long time. He has to keep Naughty Dog running, with all the administrative duties that go with it, then he has to lead and write a video game, oversee another video game they are also working on and then also work on a TV series. He has just taken on too much.” – Iggy_Slayer
However, it seems that it will take quite some time before Season 3 is released, as according to Druckmann, no “significant” work on the third season has been completed yet. Therefore, one should not expect a release before 2027.
Meanwhile, Season 2 of The Last of Us had already broken a record before its release…
