The Last of Us may have broken the cardinal rule of video game adaptations

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. So when it was announced that HBO would be adapting The Last of Us, one of the most acclaimed video games ever made, into a new big budget TV series, it’s fair to say that even the most diehard fans had reason for trepidation. Almost all video games are constructed around what’s referred to as a “gameplay loop” – a set of actions that are repeated over and over: the essence of the game. Why 'The Last of Us' could be the adaptation that breaks the console-to-screen curse In the early days of game-to-film adaptations, back when video games were primarily thought of as a children’s pastime, they were often made by people with only a loose understanding of the medium itself. The Last of Us has similarly made clear its reverence for the source material – the game’s original writer Neil Druckmann co-created and co-wrote the series alongside Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin.