E3 2013: The Last Guardian Lives…Sort Of

Patience is a virtue, but we want to play it already!

E3 is a magical time of year for video game fans, but it can also be one of the most frustrating when the trade show comes and goes with nary a hide nor hair of long-awaited titles. This year brought good news for Final Fantasy Versus XIII fans as the game is being rebranded as Final Fantasy XV for the PS4, but what of The Last Guardian, a Team Ico joint that was first announced in 2009 with a targeted 2011 release date?

Sony Computer Entertainment of America CEO Jack Tretton shed some light on the current status of Team Ico’s hotly anticipated follow-up to 2005’s Shadow of the Colossus: “I think the cool thing about our worldwide development studios is we have so many projects out there from so many great teams … Projects never ultimately go away, so The Last Guardian has certainly not gone away, but it’s on hiatus right now.” Hiatus, huh? Usually, that’s a fancy industry buzzword for “pre-cancelled.”

Fans eagerly awaiting another arty adventure from Team Ico shouldn’t give up the ghost just yet. Shuhei Yoshida, head honcho of Sony Worldwide Studios, clarified Tretton’s statement: “The game is in active development. [Lead designer Fumito] Ueda-san shared updates a few months ago. Nothing has changed. My answer is, ‘Yes, the game is in active development.’ It’s not [on] hiatus at all. But we are not ready to reintroduce it. When we are ready, we will do that. Please wait.” Being patience is a virtue and all, but it’s awfully hard to be virtuous, especially at E3.

Forward to a Buddy Invite a Buddy