“We have this data: People have watched the show and have come back and bought a PlayStation or bought it on PC and have played The Last Of Us, and that has become this gateway for them, for this medium that I love so much,” Druckmann shares. “But it was really hard work, and I was really there in the weeds to get season one off the ground, and then it was important to get [season two and the storyline for] game two off the ground as well, because I love that story so much. But now I felt like the path has been set for it. It was time to go back to the thing that started it all, which is just full-time video game work. But other things are coming and we can announce more things soon.”
Druckmann admits it was challenging to juggle all his responsibilities as a co-showrunner and director on the television series while also serving as the head of Naughty Dog, the video game studio behind The Last Of Us. He hinted he has other Last Of Us projects he’s working on besides the Emmy-nominated show, and also wanted to devote more time to the company’s new game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. So when it came time to assemble the writers room for season three, Druckmann felt it was appropriate to reassess and ultimately step away. However, he remains an executive producer on the show and says he wants to be able to shepherd the new season and “make sure it’s as deeply faithful as season one was.”
On his time as co-showrunner, Druckmann reflects, “I will say I did really enjoy it, and I took a lot away from it. I joked that I went to the best film school by working on the show, and I got to just really collaborate with incredible artists. There’s a lot that I learned, even just as far as the craft of making cinematic storytelling. There’s so much that overlaps with my work at Naughty Dog that I felt like I took quite a bit away from that.” He continues, “I think I could better serve this show and other adaptations like it in the future, having learned all this stuff—but my first responsibility, my first love, is video games, and it’s at Naughty Dog.”
