By Dexerto | Created at 2026-09-05 17:21:59 | Updated at 2026-09-18 20:44:48
1 week ago
The Last of Us’ creator has shared that Naughty Dog will not be involved in the future of the HBO show, but the company has plans for the franchise moving forward.
The first season of HBO’s adaptation was a big hit upon release and well liked by both fans of the original game and viewers new to the franchise. Season Two was more of a mixed bag, drawing criticism from fans and critics alike.
Season Three is set to debut in 2027. However, Neil Druckmann, game director and co-creator of the show alongside Craig Mazin, has revealed that Naughty Dog will not be involved with the show’s future.
He confirmed there are plans for further games in the franchise
Speaking to The Washington Post, Druckmann shared that neither he nor Naughty Dog had any creative involvement in the third season of the HBO show, which will see the events of the second half of the second game transpire onscreen.
“I wasn’t involved in shaping this season’s creative direction, and Naughty Dog did not have a creative role in the direction of this season,” he said. “So I can’t personally speak to how production is progressing.”
Though there haven’t been reports of a fallout between the two, it appears that Druckmann’s creative role has been completely severed, and it is entirely up to Mazin and HBO to dictate the future of the show.
HBOMazin’s writing was the centrepiece for much of the criticism for the second season, owing mainly to the changes he made to Ellie’s character.
However, Druckmann confirmed that he would have active involvement in upcoming games.
“It’s important for us to note that as the creator of the games, Naughty Dog is still the steward of this IP and even though this might be the end of this adaptation, we’re not done with The Last of Us,” he said. “There’s a couple projects in the works that, when the time is right, I’m very excited to talk about.”
There has been no further information about future games, bar the canceled The Last of Us Online, the franchise’s aborted foray into multiplayer.
For more on video game adaptations, check out our coverage of the Fallout: New Vegas lead’s “embarrassment” at the Amazon show’s writing, or the expected release date of The Last of Us season 3.
