Storyboard artist Colin Lorimer, who worked on all three seasons of HBO's The Last of Us, has revealed he had never played the original video game before joining the acclaimed adaptation, and that showrunner Neil Druckmann deliberately encouraged this. Rather than having Lorimer play through the games, Druckmann gave him "Art of" books and had him study cutscenes and gameplay footage on YouTube, valuing the fresh creative perspective this brought rather than having Lorimer's work be shaped entirely by prior familiarity with the source material. The approach is notable given the show has been widely praised for how faithfully it recreates the games' look and iconic moments.

Lorimer, speaking to Collider ahead of LightBox Expo 2026, said Season 1's "Endure and Survive" episode was his most difficult to storyboard, largely due to the large-scale infected attack and the Bloater's dramatic arrival, which went through numerous creative iterations alongside director Jeremy Webb. He is set to present a session titled "The Story Art of HBO's The Last of Us" at LightBox Expo 2026, running from 23 to 25 October, detailing the process from script to finished storyboard.