The Last Of Us Showrunner Says It's The Greatest Video Game Story Ever Told

The turntables of storytelling are reversing. After decades of games taking inspiration from colossal movie franchises like James Bond, Harry Potter, and Star Wars, video games overtake these blockbusters on the storytelling front.

Leading this charge is Sony, whose titles are being swiftly sent on a reimagined highway to Hollywood, with Uncharted, The Last of Us, and God of War all being flipped into series or movies.

But it’s The Last of Us which is capturing the most attention, and as HBO prepare to launch an assault onto the main screen in 2023. Everyone is excited, and that's mainly down to the story itself.

Is The Last of Us The 'Greatest Story Ever Told' In Video Games?

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With the days counting down until Game of Thrones alumni Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal lead HBO's newest series, it seems like the producers themselves are stunned at the quality of the video game and the journey it takes the beloved characters on.

Discussing what brought him to The Last of Us series with Empire, showrunner Craig Mazin explained, "It's an open-and-shut case: this is the greatest story that has ever been told in video games."

The Last of Us Part 1 originally stole the hearts of game fanatics with its gripping story and edge-of-the-seat gameplay, which won many awards along the way.

The Last of Us Showrunner Praises How 'Grounded' The Storyline Is

"They didn’t shoot anything out of their eyeballs. They were just people, and that, in and of itself, is remarkably rare in games," continued Mazin.

"The fact that they kept it so grounded, and really made you feel – I had never experienced anything like it, and I've been playing video games since 1977."  It's definitely true that Neil Druckmann's story was revolutionary in terms of the zombie genre, as well as survival horror games at large.

It's probably good news then that Mazin is back as an Executive Producer on the series. As for Mazin's reimagined The Last of Us series, it airs on January 15, where the video game industry will continue to take over Hollywood with its powerful stories and unhinging excitement.