'The Last Guardian' delayed again, but not for too long
The Last Guardian won't be making its Oct. 25 release, but it's still coming out in 2016. Sony has set a new release date of Dec. 6, citing the need for more time to squash bugs.
It's tough news for a game that was announced almost 10 years ago, at E3 2007. The Last Guardian was originally meant to release on PlayStation 3 in 2011 but original developer Team Ico's vision proved to be too much for the older console to handle.
The game seemed to languish for a few years as Team Ico creative lead Fumito Ueda moved on, as did other members of his team. But then Sony re-announced the game at E3 2015, with Ueda still on board as director and his new studio, genDESIGN, offering creative guidance.
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In the game, players guide a small child through mysterious, overgrown ruins. At some point during his journey, the young boy befriends a giant, winged creature that looks like a cross between a dog and a bird. The two must then work together to escape.
Much like earlier Team Ico games Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian is an environmental puzzle game. You need to escape from the ruins, but you can only do so by working with your bird-dog friend to bridge gaps, clear pathways and the like.
Credit the enduring popularity of this unreleased game to Team Ico's past works, as Ico and Colossus are two of the most highly regarded PS2 games. The Last Guardian's fans are also drawn to the adorable bird-dog, because it's an adorable bird-dog.
The game's delay was confirmed in a PlayStation Blog post from SCE Worldwide Studios president, Shuhei Yoshida. You can read the full statement below:
The Last Guardian development team is fast approaching major milestones in production and has made the tough decision to delay the release of The Last Guardian a few weeks. The Last Guardian will launch on December 6, 2016.
Fumito Ueda, gen DESIGN and JAPAN Studio have a wonderful vision for The Last Guardian’s touching, emotional journey of friendship and trust, and we want to deliver the most polished experience possible for our fans who have supported us for so long. A delay is a difficult decision, particularly with this game, but we have encountered more bugs than anticipated while in the final stages of development. To ensure that The Last Guardian delivers on the experience that the game’s creators have envisioned, we need to take the extra time to work on those issues.
Our development continues to push itself to the fullest and we look forward to revealing new content toward launch.We appreciate your continued support.
Topics Gaming PlayStation
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
