India, July 3 -- Neil Druckmann, co-creator of HBO's acclaimed adaptation of The Last of Us, has announced he is stepping back from the series to focus fully on his work at Naughty Dog, the PlayStation-owned studio behind the original games.

Druckmann made the announcement in an Instagram post on Naughty Dog's official account. Druckmann wrote, "I've made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last of Us on HBO. With work completed on Season 2 and before development ramps up on Season 3, now is the right time to dedicate myself entirely to Naughty Dog and it's future projects including writing and directing our next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, along with my responsibilities as Studio Head an...