"Co-creating the show has been a career highlight," Druckmann said in a statement.
The Last of Us season 2 was the last of Neil Druckmann.
The co-creator of the original video games announced on Wednesday that he's leaving his post as co-showrunner of the HBO series ahead of season 3. He will remain attached to the show as a co-creator and executive producer, Entertainment Weekly has learned. However, Druckmann will now longer write or direct season 3.
Instead, Druckmann will focus his attention on Naughty Dog, the gaming studio he runs.
Craig Mazin, his partner in crime for the first two seasons, including its Emmy-winning freshman run, will now serve as the sole showrunner.
"I've made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last of Us on HBO," Druckmann said in a statement. "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."
The statement continued, "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. I look forward to HBO and PlayStation Productions continuing Ellie and Abby's story next season."
Mazin released his own statement on the matter. "It’s been a creative dream to work with Neil and bring an adaptation of his brilliant work to life on HBO," he said. "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."
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