Neil Druckmann Leaves HBO’s The Last of Us
The Last of Us will continue without its creator. In an Instagram post that was later shared across social media platforms, Neil Druckmann, the creator of the video game The Last of Us and its sequel, The Last of Us Part II, has left the HBO adaptation of the games, on which he served as executive producer, showrunner, and writer. In the post, Druckmann says that he is leaving the show, which stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, to focus on Naughty Dog, the video game developer behind The Last of Us, of which he is the president, studio head, and “head of creative.” No replacement for Druckmann has been named, but presumably, his co-showrunner, Craig Mazin, will go solo from here on out. Not among the planned Naughty Dog games Druckmann will help oversee will be a third Last of Us entry, which Druckmann said will probably not be made. The studio is currently developing the sci-fi action game Intergalactic: The Heretic Project, which has no release date yet and, according to Druckmann a few months ago, isn’t close to being finished. You can read Neil Druckmann’s statement about his exit from HBO’s The Last of Us in the X post from the official Naughty Dog account below:
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) July 2, 2025
It isn’t hard to figure out why Neil Druckmann is leaving The Last of Us. Season 2 of the series, which just ended its seven-episode run in May, saw the show’s ratings drop as the audience reacted poorly to new plot elements. The problem was that Season 2 adapted The Last of Us Part II, which many fans of the first game didn’t like for narrative reasons – namely shaming, humiliating, and killing off Joel, the hero of the first game. And instead of changing this and attempting to make something audiences would like better, the show went full speed ahead, killing off Joel in, I believe, the season’s second episode and removing the main character almost immediately. (Since Druckmann had said The Last of Us would go for one or two more seasons, adapting The Last of Us Part II the whole time, I’d figured they would at least put Joel’s death off until the end of season 2 and frame it as a cliffhanger; clearly, I overestimated the intelligence of everyone involved.) But TV audiences responded in much the same way gamers did, and the ratings went down as fans of the show voiced their anger and confusion. (To be fair, there were other problems.) And now that the dust has settled and the usual hurled epithets have done nothing to change the situation, Neil Druckmann is jumping ship.
Or did he get thrown off the ship like a stowaway? Many believe that, rather than exiting of his own accord, HBO either pushed Neil Druckmann to leave or flat-out fired him and let him say he chose to step down so he could save face. And I can easily buy that scenario; HBO had a hit on its hands with The Last of Us going into the second season, and despite the warning signs from The Last of Us Part II’s reception, Druckmann went ahead with his version of the story – the one in which Joel is savagely murdered, and Ellie, his surrogate daughter, forgives his killer instead of getting some satisfying vengeance. I’d want to get rid of him, too. But it hardly matters; unless they miraculously resurrect Joel, the damage is done, and the only way to go forward is to cancel the show or, if contracts and such prevent that, slash the budget as much as possible and hope they don’t lose too much more on it. Druckmann, meanwhile, gets to skip away and head back to Naughty Dog with some more money in his wallet and none of the damage he caused HBO and Warner Bros. I don’t think Hollywood will be knocking on his door for another video game adaptation.
Let us know what you think of Neil Druckmann leaving the Last of Us show in the comments!
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