Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida has announced that The Last Guardian has officially gone gold for PlayStation 4.
Yoshida-san confirmed the news on Twitter over the weekend, with ‘gold’ status meaning development of the game is now complete and can enter the manufacturing process ahead of its release this winter.
The Last Guardian has endured a tumultuous development cycle to the point where it was starting to look pretty unlikely it would ever see the light of day. Development kicked off back in 2007, although it wasn’t until E3 2009 that we caught our first glimpse at the majestic beast Trico and his pint-sized companion during Sony’s press conference.
Sony showcased the game over the next few years at various events such as the Tokyo Game Show, and eventually pinned a holiday 2011 release date on the title alongside the ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection. The game was delayed, however, with creator Fumito Ueda leaving Sony to work on the project in a freelance capacity.
The Last Guardian remained conspicuously absent from E3 over the next few years, and at some point was rumored to have skipped an entire console generation. Indeed, this turned out to be the case when Sony opened its E3 2015 conference with the first footage of the game running on PS4.
The Last Guardian release date announced & delayed
Sony originally announced an October 25 release date for the hotly anticipated Team ICO adventure, although it was later pushed back to allow for some last-minute polishing. As such, The Last Guardian will now be released in the U.S. on December 6 and in the U.K. on December 7.
Aside from the regular version of the game, Sony is also releasing The Last Guardian Collector’s Edition for the more discerning fan, which includes a range of physical content such as a Trico statue and artbook.