Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal in the most recent season of The Last Of Us

The Last Of Us is set to undergo a major shake-up ahead of its upcoming third season, as co-creator Neil Druckmann has stepped back creatively from the show.

Neil has announced his departure as co-showrunner, but will continue in his role as executive producer heading into the third instalment of the post-apocalyptic drama.

“I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last Of Us,” Neil wrote in a statement posted to his production company Naughty Dog’s Instagram page on Wednesday.

He explained that he felt now is the “right time for me to transition” to completely focus on future Naughty Dog projects, including the upcoming PlayStation 5 video game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

Neil added that co-creating the show had been a “career highlight”, adding: “It’s been an honor to work alongside Craig Mazin to executive produce, direct and write on the last two seasons. I’m deeply thankful of the thoughtful approach and dedication the talented cast and crew took to adapting The Last Of Us Part I and their continued adaptation of The Last Of Us Part II.”

© HuffPost