Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida has once again confirmed that The Last Guardian is still in development, however, he would not confirm that the title would be released next year because Team Ico is (shockingly) still working on things like the game’s engine.
The French video game website JeuxVideo asked Yoshida if he could confirm a 2013 release for The Last Guardian, to which he responded:
“No, sorry, I can not say that … Because the last time we talked about a date for The Last Guardian, we finally disappointed many people. But I can tell you that the team is working hard on the project, including the engine. It is precisely because the teams working on the technical aspect of the game that we have nothing concrete to show you today. So now I’m waiting for the right time to introduce you to The Last Guardian and speak with confidence of a release date. “
The fact that Team Ico is still working on The Last Guardian‘s engine after six years is very telling on the state of the game. At this point it seems very unlikely that the game will be released next year, and I would not be surprised if it either fails to launch before the PlayStation 4 is released (which is rumored to be late 2013) or if it has simply been moved over to that unannounced system.
At any rate, the more interesting thing now is what exactly has been going on within Team Ico after all these years. At some point that story will be told and I’m guessing that it is a much more interesting tale than anything that is in The Last Guardian.
Source: NeoGAF