‘The Last Guardian’ executive producer leaves Sony for social dev
The Last Guardian executive producer, Yoshifusa Hayama, has left Sony for London social developer Bossa Studios, where he will oversee the team’s first 3D title as creative director. Last week, rumors also surfaced of The Last Guardian creative director resigning, though they remain speculation. Call me paranoid, but this can not bode well for Team Ico or their current project, which has already been delayed a year to an indefinite date in 2012.
Believe it or not, The Last Guardian was actually first announced in February 2007 in Famitsu. The first official footage was shown at E3 2009, and it immediately captivated legions of gamers who were familiar with Team Ico’s PS2 classics Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. As expected, The Last Guardian received a great amount of hype, with the trailer showcasing the team’s signature etherial environments and emotional resonance.
Since then, however, there has been very little information on the title. E3s and Tokyo Game Shows have come and gone without a peep from Team Ico regarding their PS3 debut. Though the title was originally scheduled for a holiday 2011 release, it was pushed back earlier in the year to 2012, with no tentative date.
We wish Yoshifusa Hayama the best of luck at his new position at Bossa Studios, and hope Sony has found a capable replacement and that work on The Last Guardian continues to move forward. Fumito Ueda tweeted that The Last Guardian is still in development, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed for it finally hitting our consoles sometime next year.
Anne will tell you whether or not you’re missing out when it comes to those pesky Japan-only releases. When she isn’t researching gender and sexuality in Japanese popular culture, she’s playing the quirkiest games she can get her hands on. Region locking is the bane of her existence.
