I truly wished to like season 2 of HBO’s The Last of United States For the many part, I did — however it was likewise difficult to disregard the online masses stating that showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann had actually lost the thread in season 2. A few of that originates from innovative options the set made in adjusting the very first half of the PlayStation video game The Last of United States Part II to television; it’s a story with a stretching plot that asks a great deal of the gamer and, as it ends up, much more of a passive audience. The season 2 cliffhanger ending and tease of what’s to come in season 3 simply didn’t land for a great deal of individuals, and (spoiler alert) there are a great deal of concerns from audiences regarding whether the program can make it through the loss of Pedro Pascal’s JoelIt seems like fans of the video games seethe at the modifications the television program has actually made, while individuals who have not played the video game aren’t vibing with the story as provided in season 2.
I have not put up a full-throated defense of season 2 when, state, an associate informs me it’s a disappointment that the program is now “mid.” Although there are lots of poisonous “fans” who trash the cast and appear to dislike the program informing stories with gay characters, I can confess there are likewise genuine problems with season 2. In spite of that admission making its method into my Last of Us-loving heart, I was still surprised at the news that Druckmann, co-creator of both the video game and the program, was leaving the job for season 3. Soon after Druckmann’s statement, Co-writer on The Last of United States Part II and season 2 of the program Halley Gross likewise stated she was leaving, which suggests that the 2 most popular individuals who dealt with the video games are now gone.
How this will impact season 3 certainly will be the huge concern over the work leading up to season 3, which will most likely get here at some point in early 2027. The synchronised departure of both Druckmann and Gross reeks of HBO choosing that the warm reception to season 2 implied a modification was required. In a declaration that did not have all of the enthusiasm Druckmann has actually revealed for the program so far, he stated he was transitioning his “total focus” to Naughty Dog and future video games, consisting of Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
We’ll most likely never ever understand if Druckmann left on his own or was dislodged, however the part of me that likes Naughty Dog’s video games is discovering solace because brand-new focus even as HBO’s The Last of United States is tossed into chaos. Druckmann will most likely be much more helpful to Sony as an entire working on brand-new video games than meddling the television market.
That’s in big part due to the fact that the other day likewise advised us simply how disorderly the video game market is. In the most significant news of the day, a series of extensive layoffs at Microsoft affected various Xbox studiosthe most recent problem for a market that has actually honestly been ravaged by instability in current years
With that background in mind, Druckmann’s restored concentrate on Naughty Dog makes a great deal of sense. The television market is not injuring in the least for status material. Showrunner Craig Mazin currently has the plot points he requires to cover in season 3 of The Last of United Statesso Druckmann’s input will most likely be missed out on less than it would have been when the task began back in 2021. PlayStation, on the other hand, requires an increase, and having an innovative leader like Druckmann assisting to make Intergalactic and whatever else Naughty Dog has up its sleeve is something the business might truly utilize.
It’s clear that the first-party PlayStation studios continue to make extraordinary video games– however the rate throughout the PS5 generation has actually slowed substantially. For the very first couple of years of the PS5’s life, a lot of huge exclusives like God of War Ragnarök and Horizon Forbidden West concerned both the PS4 and PS5. That gradually altered, with titles like Astro Bot and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 being constructed solely for the PS5. The cadence of these releases has actually slowed considerably; this year’s releases consist of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (likely a timed unique) and Ghost of Yotei 5 years into this generation it’s certainly been a sluggish burn.
That pattern is especially severe for Naughty Dog. After launching Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End in 2016 and following that rapidly with the standalone growth Uncharted: The Lost Legacy in 2017, Naughty Dog has actually launched one (1) initial video game given that: The Last of United States Part IIBesides that, we’ve gotten … remakes and remasters of both franchises, maybe not coincidentally to attract individuals who discovered The Last of United States by means of the HBO program.
In between his tasks as Naughty Dog’s studio head and his television work, it’s reasonable to question just how much time Druckmann has actually invested in real video games in the last few years. It’s likewise completely possible he’s spread out too thin now, even without co-running the television program– it’s most likely previous time for some brand-new innovative visionaries to take the lead at Naughty Dog provided Druckmann’s function as president.
If he’s genuinely the primary director and author for Intergalactic as he stated in his declaration, it’s great news for the PlayStation brand name that he’s back on that gig full-time. It’s simply a bit over 6 months because Intergalactic was initially revealed, so we have no genuine concept where the video game remains in its advancement cycle. It sounds like the video game has actually been in advancement considering that 2020, and Naughty Dog has stated it found out a lesson from revealing The Last of United States Part II Long before it really released. Ideally we’re taking a look at a 2026 or 2027 release instead of much beyond that.
Druckmann’s departure from HBO’s The Last of United States may be a little bit of a canary in the coal mine for Sony’s wider PlayStation aspirations and a refocus on simply making video games. Games market professional Joost Van Dreunen composed in 2023 that the success of the program’s very first season was “the conclusion of Sony’s progressive shift to ending up being a media business.” That’s something the business itself has actually talked up in the years given that– the concept of ending up being platform-less, with franchises existing on the PlayStation, on the motion picture screen and on the smaller sized television screen in your house. Take its CES 2025 discussion, for instance; Sony talked up several video gaming adjustments The Last of United States like the Horizon franchise and Ghost of Tsushima.
“While [Sony] continues to offer hardware at scale, its tactical focus is moving towards high-margin digital services and franchise growth,” Van Dreunen composed last month“Titles like The Last of United States have actually crossed into tv with vital success, and Sony has actually invested greatly in anime circulation (through Crunchyroll) and movie adjustments of its video game IP. It places PlayStation less as a closed hardware community and more as the structure for a vertically incorporated material engine. Instead of chasing after circulation breadth like Microsoft, Sony is doubling down on cultural depth, utilizing its special IP to construct multi-format engagement loops.”
I do not believe a less-than-stellar 2nd season of The Last of United States will trigger Sony to desert this method. (Sony is likewise too huge of a ship to entirely turn away from this strategy extremely rapidly.) The repositioning of Druckmann as the lead of an effective and prominent video game studio rather than a multi-medium imaginative visionary strengthens the truth that if they’re going to have hits on a range of various platforms, brand-new, enthusiastic and ideally great video games like Intergalactic are a requirement. At this moment, HBO’s The Last of United States is going to keep rolling, with or without Druckmann– there were a great deal of loud grievances, however likewise still a lot of audiences and favorable evaluations. Naughty Dog is previous due for another huge video game that presses the category in a brand-new instructions. It’s the correct time for Druckmann to come home.