While video game escort missions are not usually a favorite for gamers, the mechanics and storyline of The Last of Us proved so engrossing the game took home the Game of the Year Award. Gamers play primarily as Joel (Troy Baker), a smuggler who must escort a 14-year-old girl (Ashley Johnson) out of a quarantine zone and across an apocalyptic U.S. The Last of Us was released on PlayStation 3 in June of 2013.

Mazin was also to work alongside the video game franchise’s writer and creative director, Neil Druckmann.

HBO ordered the series officially in November, with Kantemir Bagalov set to direct. Of course, the WHO’s announcement of a real global pandemic was only days away, which would stall development but it would not kill the series.

In early March of 2020, HBO announced that it was once again partnering with Craig Mazin, creator of the HBO limited series Chernobyl, this time on an adaptation of the Naughty Dog video game, The Last of Us, the story of two survivors of an apocalyptic pandemic event.

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