The Last Guardian being 're-engineered' at SCE Japan Studios

The Last Guardian is being "re-engineered" by SCE Japan Studios, Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida told GamesIndustry International. As to what end the long-delayed project from the team behind Ico and Shadow of the Colossus is being rebuilt, he remained cagey.

"The game has never stopped--the team has always been here," Yoshida said. "They're going through the re-engineering of the game, so the team size is smaller, because it's more engineering focused right now."

The Last Guardian was announced as a PS3 title in at E3 2009. As next-gen systems drew near but Team Ico's game remained distant, rumors swirled that it would appear on Sony's next system. That would certainly require re-engineering, but Yoshida refused comment.

"So, we're waiting for the right time to re-introduce The Last Guardian in an appropriate way. I can't... Well, the game is in development, and it's well staffed, and [Team Ico head Fumito] Ueda-san is here, working--even though he's not a Sony employee, he's dedicated to the product. But we're not ready to update yet."

Ueda said in August that The Last Guardian "is under earnest development," but titles like Puppeteer and Knack took development priority.