On July 3, 2019, Robert Kirkman confirmed through the “Letter Hacks” section of Issue #193 of The Walking Dead, that the issue had concluded the series, with no previous announcements or warnings beforehand. Kirkman opted to end the comic on his own terms. He stated in his letter that part of the reason to end was that he feared he lacked material to continue the series for several more issues.

Kirkman envisioned the series finale around the time Rick Grimes and his allies reach the Commonwealth, a large human community protected from the walkers, allowing Kirkman to give a complete story arc. However, he found he got there too soon in terms of issues, with the Commonwealth first appearing around issue #150, and Kirkman feared there was no way he could get to an issue #300 with what ideas he had left.