The HBO adaptation of The Last of Us has officially been renewed for its second season

Mushroom fans rejoice! HBO has Confirmed The critically acclaimed live-action television adaptation of The Last of Us will return for a second season.

It’s perhaps not particularly surprising news; The Last of Us has been a hit with both critics and ratings since it premiered on January 15th. Shortly after the show’s debut, HBO announced that it had become the channel’s second-most-watched premiere in over a decade, with 4.7 million viewers tuning in to the first episode — a number that has since quadrupled and within one Achieved over 18 million views this week. Episode 2, meanwhile, secured the largest second-week viewership growth for an original drama series in HBO history.

And now, just under three weeks into The Last of Us season 1, HBO has confirmed that more is on the way. “I am so grateful [The Last of Us co-creator] Neil Druckmann and HBO for our partnership,” showrunner and series writer Craig Mazin said of the news, “and I’m even more grateful to the millions of people who have joined us on this journey.”

Druckmann, who directed the recently aired second episode of the series, added, “I’m honored, honored and frankly overwhelmed that so many people tuned in and connected to our retelling of Joel and Ellie’s journey. Working with Craig Mazin, our incredible cast and crew, and HBO has exceeded my already high expectations…Now we’re absolutely thrilled to be able to do it again with Season 2! On behalf of everyone at Naughty Dog and PlayStation, thank you!”.

Where the series might be going next in Season 2, Druckmann recently repeated the team “only [wants] to adapt to games, so we don’t want to leave them.” Depending on how Season 1 ends, that likely means Season 2 will dive right into The Last of Us: Part 2 territory – with this game being more “involved” is “story possibly over several seasons, according to Mazin. And with a possible third game – assuming Naughty Dog can find a “compelling story” – there might even be scope for more beyond that in the future.

In the short term, The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 3 will air next Monday morning at 2am in the UK on Sky Atlantic, after which it will be available on demand via Sky and Now TV. And if you haven’t had a chance to see what all the fuss is about, HBO has now made the first episode of the series free to watch on YouTube.