Conjecture: Mark Cerny (PS4 architect) is working on ‘The Last Guardian’
So apparently the dude behind the PlayStation 4 is working on The Last Guardian. Maybe. Perhaps. But the question to be asked is, if The Last Guardian happens without Fumito Ueda, does it really happen? (No, btw.)
Sony Computer Entertainment’s Mark Cerny is now leading development on The Last Guardian, Just Add Water founder Stewart Gilray implied on the PS Nation podcast.
“I did hear a funny story about Last Guardian,” said Gilray on episode 427, which was released June 8. “It’s a certain somebody’s software team [working on it], and that certain somebody is the guy who helped out with the architecture of the Vita and PS4. I’m led to believe that he’s — his team is now running Last Guardian to finish.”
Gilray did not mention Cerny by name, but Cerny served as lead system architect for the PS4. He was also “heavily involved in the core development of the Vita,” said Shuhei Yoshida, head of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, in a Gamescom 2013 interview with Eurogamer Digital Foundry. In addition, Cerny was the lead designer for the PS4 launch title Knack.
Yesterday, U.K. newspaper The Guardian published a piece on its 15 most anticipated games of E3 2015. Listed among them was The Last Guardian, with the article’s writers saying, “We have it on very good authority that this will be the year that Team Ico finally presents its follow-up to much loved classics Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.”
Fumito Ueda’s The Last Guardian was originally revealed as a PlayStation 3 exclusive during Sony’s E3 2009 press briefing. Following Ueda’s departure from Sony at the end of 2011, Sony officials have repeatedly insisted that the game is still in developmentand hasn’t been canceled, even though the company allowed its trademark to lapse(apparently by mistake) earlier this year.
We’ve reached out to Sony for comment, and will update this article with any information we receive. You can also watch the E3 2009 trailer below. (Yeah, that was six years ago.)
Update: Gilray attempted to clarify his comments on the PS Nation podcast in a statement to Gaming Bolt yesterday, saying that he has no firsthand knowledge of the situation.
“This is my assuming based upon various public facts,” said Gilray. “Cerny spoke about [The Last Guardian] last year saying it’s definitely still happening. It’s a TOKYO Studio project. Ueda-san even said the [Last Guardian] team was working on Knack with Cerny. Adding all these elements together it seems like a good bet that he, or at least his team is involved, wouldn’t you say?”