Nearly two weeks ago, word had leaked that the head of Team Ico and creator of The Last Guardian, Fumito Ueda, had left Sony and is now working on the game in a freelance capacity. Earlier today, the company officially came out and confirmed that those rumors were indeed true.
In a statement given to Gamasutra, Sony acknowledged that Ueda has left, is still signed on to finish The Last Guardian, and is “committed to completing” the project. The game is in mid-development and has already been delayed once from a late-2011 to a vague 2012 release.
Ueda’s only two previous titles with Sony, which he started working for back in 2007, are Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. Both received high critical praise and are well respected titles in the industry, so much so that an HD collection bundle of the two was released back in September.
This confirmation also comes a week after The Last Guardian Executive Producer Yoshifusa Hayama left the company to work for UK social game developer Bossa Studios. Whether the departures of both Ueda and Hayama are connected or not is currently unknown.
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