https://www.npr.org/2023/03/16/ [login to see] /the-last-of-us-game-actors-and-creator-discuss-the-shows-success
This past Sunday, The Last of Us aired its season finale. The HBO hit outperformed the network's latest show of a similar scale, House of the Dragon.
But like that Game of Thrones spin-off, The Last of Us also derives its storytelling from another medium — no, not a series of best-selling books, but a groundbreaking video game.
"It's like a family reunion I haven't heard for years. And now it's this worldwide phenomenon," says show executive producer Neil Druckmann. "I mean, the game was incredibly successful. But now it's on another level where I can't avoid it. It's everywhere. It's on commercials on TV, it's people talking about on the street"
Druckmann co-created the 2013 PlayStation game at studio Naughty Dog, and helped bring it to HBO with showrunner Craig Mazin (Chernobyl). Their job was made easier by having celebrated source material to work with.