God of War dev not helping with The Last Guardian
Sony Santa Monica confirms it is not assisting Team Ico in developing long-awaited adventure game.
The Last Guardian remains in development, but God of War studio SonySanta Monica is not assisting in its production, as had been reported last year.
"I'm never really sure how that got in the press, because as far as I'm aware we're not helping out with The Last Guardian," director of technology Tim Moss toldEurogamer. "The only way you can say that is the knowledge that we contribute back to the central tech groups benefits The Last Guardian. So I'm guessing someone was slightly misquoted."
Sony Santa Monica's reported involvement with The Last Guardian stems back to a Wired interview with Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida. At the time, he stated that the God of War developer, along with other outside studios, were assisting Team Ico on the game.
"It's not just Santa Monica," Yoshida said at the time. "We have great tech people in Worldwide Studios. We have a central tech group in the US and the UK so we are giving them whatever help they need."
Fellow Sony Santa Monica director of technology Christer Ericson confirmed that the various first-party teams do communicate with one another, but are not actively involved in eachother's projects.
"We tend to visit each other several times a year, and doing so we may exchange ideas. They've been here, and we've been there," he said. "We do ask each other how are you doing that, and just sometimes go over to provide feedback."
Last month, The Last Guardian creative director Fumito Ueda told gamers to "keep an eye out" for an official announcement on the game from Sony. No such announcement has yet been made.
Formally announced at the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo, The Last Guardian tells a boy-and-his-dog tale, where the dog is a giant and feathered, yet seemingly amiable, beast. Developer Team Ico has not been forthcoming with specific plot details, but gameplay will involve the boy working with his companion to navigate a variety of environmental puzzles.
The Last Guardian has made "slow progress" for years. Sony senior vice president of product development Scott Rohde said in June that the game will ship "when it is absolutely ready." He also said Sony has no deadline whatsoever for the game.
