Writer-director Neil Druckmann dropped out of HBO’s The Last of Us TV show to focus on Naughty Dog’s gaming output, including Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. In a new interview, he said Season 3–which, again, he had no direct involvement in, will “wrap up” the series. He also revealed that, unlike Seasons 1 and 2, Naughty Dog “did not have a creative role in the direction” of Season 3.
Druckmann said this to The Washington Post, confirming, “I wasn’t involved in shaping this season’s creative direction,” nor was Naughty Dog involved. “So I can’t personally speak to how production is progressing,” he said.
The Last of Us ending after Season 3 would be no surprise, as HBO management said that would likely happen. Druckmann was very closely involved in Seasons 1 and 2; he co-wrote some of the episodes and directed two.
Druckmann went on to say that Naughty Dog remains “the steward of this IP” and even though the HBO show might be coming to an end, he teased, “We’re not done with The Last of Us.”
He went on to say, “There’s a couple projects in the works that, when the time is right, I’m very excited to talk about.”
This isn’t the first time that Druckmann has teased future The Last of Us projects. Earlier this year, he said there are “a few stops that remain on the road ahead” for the series.
Druckmann has heavily teased that a third The Last of Us game might be on the way. We also know that Naughty Dog has had at least two new games in development since 2023, one of which is Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet–the other is a mystery. Naughty Dog had significant resources dedicated to The Last of Us Online, but the project was ultimately canceled.
Troy Baker, meanwhile, who played Joel in the game series, said this year that, “I definitely know we’ve not seen the last of Joel.”