Neil Druckmann, head of the PlayStation studio Naughty Dog and co-creator of The Last of Us, is stepping away from the HBO show based on the 2013 game and its 2020 sequel to focus his work on Naughty Dog's next game. On Instagram, the studio published the following statement from Druckmann:"I've made the difficult decision to step away from my involvement in The Last of Us on HBO. 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."He went on to thanks showrunner Craig Mazin (on the left in the above photo) as well as the cast and crew he worked with on the first two seasons and called working on the show a "career highlight" Druckmann was credited as executive producer and co-creator of the show and he directed one episode in each of the show's two seasons as well as contributing writing to several others. The bulk of the show itself was written by Mazin.