The Last of Us is coming back for a third season on HBO

Joel, from HBO's The Last of Us, stares bleakly with a tear lancing down his cheek in a dimly-lit room. — (Image credit: HBO's The Last of Us (Coming to Max in 2024-2025).)

The Last of Us Season 2 doesn't hit the airwaves until April 13, but HBO has already renewed the series for a third season.

"We approached season two with the goal of creating something we could be proud of," executive producer Craig Mazin said (via The Hollywood Reporter).

HBO executive vice president Francesca Orsi added to the plaudits: "It can't be overemphasized how proud HBO is for the outstanding achievement we believe the second season of The Last of Us is. Craig, Neil [Druckmann}, Carolyn [Strauss] and the entire executive producer team, cast and crew have delivered a masterful follow-up and we're thrilled to carry the power of Craig and Neil's storytelling into what we know will be an equally moving and extraordinary third season."

The Los Angeles Times was a little more restrained in its take, saying that "like any continuation of a fantasy/sci-fi franchise, the second season cannot match the world-building revelations of the first"; The Verge, on the other hand, says the second season "does an excellent job of rendering some of the game’s most touching moments ... while also putting Joel and Ellie’s story into the larger context of this world," and, notably, "ends at a place that nicely sets up season three."

More The Last of Us is officially coming your way. Thanks so much for all your enthusiasm and support! See you on Sunday! https://t.co/vM5WT56ThlApril 9, 2025

That sounds pretty solid to me, and I imagine HBO executives have to be pretty happy about it as well, although I'm pretty sure they didn't wait for reviews to drop before hastily signing the contracts for the third season. Sometimes you have to roll the dice on these things—like, for instance, when you have a hot property with well-loved actors that people are vocally eager for more of. That helps!

First things first, though: The first episode of The Last of Us season 2 will debut on April 13, and will continue weekly from there through its full seven-episode length. If you want to watch but aren't otherwise interested in going whole-hog on MAX, PC Gamer's TV mastermind Chris Livingston has some good advice on how to minmax your streaming subscriptions to get the most for the least—and in the meantime, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered in now available on PC, so you can just go play that, too.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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