You almost had me fooled Sony. You nearly had me believing that The Last Guardian was a real game and not an elaborate prank you’ve been playing on gamers since 2007. But now with news of another Last Guardian delay, the joke has been on us once more. PlayStation officially confirmed the new release date of December 6 in a new blog post.
The Most Recent Delay
Shuhei Yoshida, President of SCE Worldwide Studios, made the delay official. He’s long been the public face of The Last Guardian, for years the top executive seen confirming or denying the continued development of The Last Guardian over the years, so it’s fitting he’s the bearer of bad news. Apparently, as the game neared its mid-October release date, some game bugs needed to be fixed.
Now, those bugs are large enough to facilitate a delay but manageable enough to be taken care or within six weeks. That’s a curious position to be in, and for fans who’ve seen this delayed so many times already, not all are ready to think this is the final Last Guardian delay.
The Last Guardian Delay Timeline
In case you’re wondering just how very long people have been waiting forThe Last Guardian. Here’s a quick rundown of just how many years it has been since The Last Guardian delays first started up.
2007 – 2009: Rumors persist that developer Team Ico is making a third game, codenamed Trico.
June 2009: During Sony’s E3 press conference, they show the full first trailer for The Last Guardian, impressing just about everyone in the audience. The announced release date is holiday 2011.
March 2011: After several press demos and more rumors that development wasn’t going well, The Last Guardian officially leaves 2011 release calendar. There’s no new date given.
Nov. 2011: Sony confirms rumors that Fumito Ueda, director of The Last Guardian, is no longer works an employee of the company. However, Sony says Ueda continues to collaborate on The Last Guardian in a freelance capacity.
2012 – June 2015: Save for Shuhei Yoshida’s occasional confirmations that the PS3 game isn’t cancelled, there was no information on the game for several years. Rumors persisted The Last Guardian was now a PlayStation 4 game, but Sony would not confirm it.
June 2015: The Last Guardian redebuts at E3 2015, now a PlayStation 4 release. The title has a 2016 release window.
June 2016: After a year with little new information, The Last Guardian makes another E3 appearance and is even playable at the show. The game now has an October release date that seems totally reachable.
And that brings us to today’s The Last Guardian delay. Is this the final stumble for the finish line? Surely the game won’t fall into 2017, right? Well, let’s all keep our fingers crossed until that day arrives. Honestly, I won’t truly believe the game is complete until it’s in my hands.