Phil Spencer Praises HBO’s The Last Of Us Adaptation

Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming's CEO, has praised Neil Druckmann and his work on the popular The Last of Us adaptation.

By Shahmeer Sarfaraz January 28, 2023

1 minute read

Phil Spencer, executive vice president of Gaming for Microsoft Corp., speaks during the company's Xbox event ahead of the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, U.S., in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Sunday, June 10, 2018. Xbox previewed a flurry of new titles and deals with studios as the video-gaming division of Microsoft looks to compete more intensely with Sony Corp.'s PlayStation and a resurgent Nintendo Co. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg

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Phil Spencer called out Neil Druckmann and his team for their fantastic work on The Last of Us franchise.
The first episode of HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us series premiered on January 15, 2023.
Phil is also confident that the second season of the Halo TV series will aspire to be just as good as The Last of Us adaptation.

Xbox CEO Phil Spencer has applauded HBO’s adaptation of the popular The Last of Us series. Phil also praised Neil Druckmann and the rest of the team behind The Last of Us adaptation for their excellent work.

Naughty Dog‘s The Last of Us came out in 2013 for the PlayStation 3. The remastered version of the game was released in 2014 for the PlayStation 4.

In 2020, The Last of Us Part II was released for the PlayStation 4, which takes place five years after the first game’s events. In September 2022, The Last of Us Part I was officially released for the current-gen PlayStation 5 console.

The game has remained a classic throughout the years, with more to come as The Last of Us Multiplayer Project is in the works.

The live adaptation of The Last of Us by HBO has received worldwide praise for accurately and efficiently portraying the post-apocalyptic story of the games. The first episode of the live-adaptation drama series was aired on January 15, 2023, at HBO.

During an interview with IGN, when Phil Spencer was asked if he had been paying attention to The Last of Us on HBO, He praised the team behind the live adaptation and Naughty Dog for their fantastic work. Phil applauded the work Naughty Dog has put into building The Last of Us franchise over all these years.

Phil Spencer's view on The Last of Us adaptation. (Source: IGN) — Phil Spencer’s view on The Last of Us adaptation. (Source: IGN)

Microsoft Gaming’s CEO also called out Neil Druckmann, the creator of The Last of Us and the president of Naughty Dog, for his work on the franchise.

Phil also applauded how Naughty Dog was able to translate the game into an entirely different medium of entertainment while being incredibly successful at it. According to Phil, that shows that the games industry is full of amazing storytellers.

When Phil was asked if season two of the Halo TV series could live up to the standard set by The Last of Us adaptation, he replied that The Last of Us had set an incredibly high bar for them.