The Last Of Us Show Creator Craig Mazin Was Careful To Not Alienate Non-Gamers From The Series

According to Mazin, The Last of Us will have plenty of Easter eggs for fans, but not so many that newcomers to the franchise will scratch their heads.

“Our philosophy was never to say, ‘Oh, if you’re a fan, you’re going to say, oh yeah, they made that thing just for me,'” Mazin told BBC Radio. “Everything had to have resonance for people who don’t understand that they’re references to the game.”

Still, Mazin carefully selected Easter eggs to include in the series while also looking for ways to reward people who loved the original video game. “I love the game [the fans] love the game. We want to take care of them even as we bring this to a whole new audience of people who don’t know the game,” he said. But given the great reviews The Last of Us is already getting, the new audience can quickly be much larger than the millions of people who have already played the OG games. In other words, a lot more people could watch upcoming seasons and think, “Oh yeah, they made that thing just for me.”