Neil Druckmann, who co-created and directed The Last of Us video games, will take a step back from the HBO series adaptation for Season 3. Though he has been hands-on throughout the first two seasons of the Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal-starring post-apocalyptic show, Druckmann will reportedly neither write nor direct any Season 3 episodes. He will, however, continue to serve as a co-creator and executive producer.

“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 any meaningful work starts on season 3, now is the right time for me to transition my complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects, including writing and directing our exciting next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, along with my responsibilities as Studio Head and Head of Creative,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “Co-creating the show has been a career highlight. 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.”

He ended his statement by saying he is looking forward to “HBO and PlayStation Productions continuing Ellie and Abby’s story next season.”

Further to Neil Druckmann, executive producer and writer Halley Gross, who co-wrote The Last of Us Part II and was involved in the adaptation’s second season, will also be exiting the series.

Season 3 is expected to continue the story from the sequel game The Last of Us Part II, and is expected to centre Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby.