PlayStation 3-exclusive title The Last Guardian is still in development and was never actually on hiatus, says Shuhei Yoshida, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS).
Speaking during an interview with GI.biz, Yoshida-san was quizzed on the status of the Team ICO adventure:
“So, we’re waiting for the right time to re-introduce The Last Guardian in an appropriate way. I can’t… Well, the game is in development, and it’s well staffed, and Ueda-san is here, working – even though he’s not a Sony employee, he’s dedicated to the product. But we’re not ready to update yet,” he said.
The executive also took the time to clear up confusion surrounding the game’s supposed hiatus, which originated during an interview with Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) boss Jack Tretton at E3.
“Hiatus, I never…it was Jack Tretton! He used the term, and I said no, hiatus is misleading. It was hiatus in terms of releasing new information. The game has never stopped – the team has always been there. They’re going through the re-engineering of the game, so the team size is smaller, because it’s more engineering focused right now.”
The Last Guardian was officially unveiled at E3 2009, and has made only a few appearances at trade shows ever since. Originally due out in holiday 2011, the game failed to appear and it wasn’t long before creator Fumito Ueda left Sony only to return to the project in a freelance capacity.
Over the past 18 months or so, reports have cropped up that the game’s development has slowed somewhat, while others claimed it had actually moved to PlayStation 4. Despite this, Sony has always maintained the game is on track for PS3 and is still in the works.
Stay tuned to PSU.com for more details.