The Last of Us game co-creator unhappy about lack of credit for HBO show
By WiC Staff
HBO’s new post-apocalyptic series The Last of Us is off to a stellar start, paying loving homage to the acclaimed video game series by Naughty Dog while forging its own path as a prestige television drama. Released in 2013 for the PlayStation 3, The Last of Us was revolutionary for video game storytelling. It’s no surprise that it makes a good show.
Yet while The Last of Us is reaching a whole new generation of fans on TV, one of the game’s core creators is going uncredited for his contributions. The 2013 Last of Us video game was written by Neil Druckman and directed by Bruce Straley. While Druckmann has gone on to become one of the showrunners of the HBO series (along with Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin), Straley isn’t involved in the show. Nonetheless, he and Druckmann have maintained that they had an equal hand in developing the story, though Druckmann’s primary job was the scripting while Straley oversaw the game’s design.
The Last of Us game co-creator wants more unions in the industry
Straley left Naughty Dog in 2017 after suffering burnout from the notoriously severe crunch to produce Uncharted 4. According to The Los Angeles Times, his relationship with the studio is “strained,” and he’s none too happy about the lack of recognition he’s getting for The Last of Us. Yet it seems his frustration isn’t aimed at Druckmann, but the system as a whole which allows for this type of thing to happen.
“It’s an argument for unionization that someone who was part of the co-creation of that world and those characters isn’t getting a credit or a nickel for the work they put into it,” Straley said. “Maybe we need unions in the video game industry to be able to protect creators.”
The Last of Us airs new episodes Sundays at 8:00 p.m. CT / 9:00 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
Next. The Last of Us Episode 1: What did they change from the game?. dark
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