In addition, Halley Gross has also announced she will no longer be working on the HBO series. Gross previously co-wrote “The Last of Us Part II” with Druckmann and worked as an executive producer and writer on the HBO series.

HBO’s The Last of Us is looking at a shake-up for its third (and potentially final) season – not only on screen, where the focus expected to shift from Bella Ramsey’s Ellie to Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby, but also behind-the-scenes with Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann announcing that he is stepping down as co-showrunner on the series.

Neil Druckmann, co-creator of The Last of Us video game and co-showrunner on the HBO adaptation, will be stepping away from the television series moving forward. In a statement, Druckmann — who is also studio head at The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog — said the decision was made to focus on the studio’s upcoming games.