The Last Guardian is probably the most infamous and heartbreaking case of video game vaporware of the past decade. The next game from the team behind Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian was announced in 2009, but first began development as early as 2007. Since it was announced, updates on its development have been infrequent, contradictory and confusing. Fumito Ueda, creator and director or the game, left Sony a couple years back, but is apparently still working on the title on a freelance basis. Some branches of Sony have said the game is “on hiatus,” while others have said it’s still under active development. Rumors have been swirling that it may be moved to the PS4. Basically, it’s all one big mess.
Well, here’s one more reason to be pessimistic about the fate of The Last Guardian – as of today, Sony no longer owns the trademark to the name “The Last Guardian.” February 16th was the deadline for Sony to apply for an extension of the trademark with the US Patent Office, and they finally threw up their hands an let it lapse.
This isn’t necessarily the end of the story – Sony could still be working on the title, but letting The Last Guardian trademark go would seem to indicate Sony isn’t expecting the game to come out any time soon, and that maybe the it’s turning into something altogether different behind the scenes. Nevertheless, I continue to hold out faint hope that some day, some way, I’ll finally get my pet griffin.
via Leviathyn