SCE Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida has confirmed that several of the company's internal studios have been helping out with Team Ico's beleagured PS3 debut The Last Guardian, including God of War developer Sony Santa Monica.
When asked to confirm reports that Sony Santa Monica staff had travelled to Japan to aid in development, Yoshida told Wired that multiple teams have been lending support to the project.
"Well, you know, it’s not just Santa Monica. We have great tech people in Worldwide Studios. We have a central tech group in the U.S. and the U.K. so we are giving them whatever help they need. Technically, we have the best engineers in the U.S. and Europe, so these teams are helping them, giving advice."
Sony Santa Monica has a long history of collaborating with other PS3 developers to help get the most out of the system. In the past, they've worked closely with thatgamecompany, Eat Sleep Play, and Lightbox interactive, so it's hardly surprising to hear they're chipping in on The Last Guardian
So, with more hands on deck, will The Last Guardian finally see release in 2012? Yoshida says progress is promising, but still too slow to commit to a firm release date.
"There’s a vision that we want to realize but it’s very very tough and technical issue that the team is tackling and some plans have to be made to evaluate and go through the process. At one point the progress was great, so we talked about the timing of the launch in the past. But now it’s making progress, but still not to the level — it’s playable, but not to the point that we can talk about the timing of launch."
The Last Guardian is still tentatively slated for release sometime this year.
