Team Ico loses another team member :(

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Executive producer of The Last Guardian quits -Destructoid

First Fumito Ueda drops out and now Yoshifusa Hayama as well. This departure is for Bossa Studios, which is company that makes Facebook games.

Departures like this tend to come at the end of a project, I'm kind of sad to see these guys go as they were part of the most creatively brilliant team Sony had.

I guess The Last Guardian is really the last game of this trilogy of sorts, I don't really see how they could continue to be the same team and make games like this with those two guys gone. They didn't really come from game design backgrounds to start with, which is part of what made their games feel so different.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Team Ico loses another team member

GameStop is calling to say The Last Guardian is canceled -Destructoid



Sony, you got some 'splaining to do.

[Raydeus]

Re: Team Ico loses another team member

For old times sake?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Team Ico loses another team member

Small update:

The Last Guardian Is Not Canceled - PlayStation 3 News at IGN

Sony Japan says its not cancelled and is still in production. Still no release date.

To be fair, Gamestop's automated system has glitched on epic scales before, but given the game has also been removed from their computers and their website, its still worrying as Gamestop generally has pretty good accuracy about what's coming out and what isn't. If they took it down on all fronts, then the status of its western release is certainly in question.

Either way, I'm not reassured yet. Two key members gone, no firm date after about three years and Gamestop's removal of the game's existence from their site are not good signs, even with Sony saying otherwise. This game is in some kind of trouble.

If it comes down to it and I have to import, I will, but localization for a Team Ico game isn't something that would exactly be an astronomical cost to SCEA given how little dialogue there is.

[Raydeus]

Re: Team Ico loses another team member

After all, last time something like that happened we got XIV. <_<;

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Team Ico loses another team member

Gamestop just confirmed it was an error per IGN.

Still, I'm a bit worried about the game. Ueda said he'd be sticking around to complete the game in a smaller capacity, but after that he's leaving Sony entirely.

I'd really like to know the reason for the departure. Hayama said he just sees more potential and faster development in Facebook games. There's not been much reason why Ueda is backing out.

[Raydeus]

Re: Team Ico loses another team member

Those sudden exits mid-project never happen unless either there's something very bad messing up development of the game or they are not being paid.

I hope it's about money, because if Sony is messing up development things can get ugly.