The Last of Us season two's 2025 release window narrowed down by HBO

If you've been looking forward to your second dose of fungi-orientated misery, there's some good news: HBO has narrowed down the release date for season two of its highly acclaimed The Last of Us live-action adaptation, confirming it's now targeting "spring" 2025.

The inevitable second season of The Last of Us (inevitable given the original season was both a critical and commercial smash, managing to win eight Emmys and attract an average of 32m viewers per episode the US) was announced in January 2023, just two weeks after the first episode aired. Then, last December, HBO confirmed the show was targeting a "2025" release.

And now, HBO and Max content CEO and chairman Casey Bloys has narrowed that window down further, revealing - during a 2025 programming slate presentation (thanks IGN) - that The Last of US season two will launch in "spring" next year.

As to what The Last of Us' second season will entail, showrunner Craig Mazin has already confirmed it'll be delving into the events of developer Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part 2, albeit with the game's storyline being split across more than one season.

"We don't think that we're going to be able to tell the story even within two [more] seasons because we're taking our time and [going] down interesting pathways which we did a little bit in season one too," Mazin explained earlier this year. "We feel like it's almost assuredly going to be the case that - as long as people keep watching and we can keep making more television - season three will be significantly larger. And indeed, the story may require season four."

HBO also previously confirmed season two will feature a slightly shorter episode count, coming it at seven episodes compared to season one's nine. "The story that we're telling is much bigger than the story of season one, there's just a lot more going on, it's a lot harder to produce but we want every episode to feel like its own blockbuster," Mazin said in an interview at the time. "When you do that, you look for natural breakpoints, and as we laid it out, this season, the [natural] breakpoint felt like it came after seven episodes."

The Last of Us season two sees the return of Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Pedro Pascal as Joel, with currently announced newcomers including Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse, and Catherine O'Hara in an unannounced role. Oh, and fans can also expect "a lot more infected", according to Mazin.

HBO released a new trailer for The Last of Us' second season back in September, and you can read series aficionado Victoria Kennedy's thorough breakdown of its shots elsewhere on Eurogamer. If nothing else, it'll tide you over until spring next year.