‘The Last Guardian’ & ‘DayZ’ Still Have No Release Windows

As Gamescom goes on, more and more news is pushed to the surface as publishers and developers try to compete with one another to make sure their games and their accouterments are in the spotlight. Each publisher neatly packages their lineups, all vying to be the prettiest belle at the ball in order to entice gamers. With so many people pedaling their games, big and small, it can be tough to keep up with what exactly has been shown and from whom. Although, even with all these games on display, sometimes it is the titles that are absent that are more noticeable than the ones on show.

When talking about which games might be announced in the run up to a big expo,The Last Guardian is probably only eclipsed by Half-Life 3 in terms of what has been speculated upon the longest. There have been four E3s since Team Ico‘s followup to Shadow of the Colossus was first shown. Since then, development has been on and off hiatus multiple times, with reports of other studios trying to lend a hand to finish the game. You might be forgiven for beginning to lose faith that the project will ever see daylight, but here is at least a small glimmer of hope for you to hold on.

In an interview with CVG, creator and now producer, Fumito Ueda, confirmed that they are still making the game but it may still be a little while. The reasoning according to Ueda, “SCE Japan Studio, who’s working on The Last Guardian, also has titles like Puppeteer and Knack, and those are only the ones currently announced. Those are taking priority right now.” He also said that all involved have actively decided not to reveal if the game is set to come to PlayStation 3 or 4 just yet, assuming the game is going to be released. Ever.

In similar news, those holding out on the DayZ standalone game should get ready to wait a little longer for news. Creator Dean Hall told Joystiq that the game no longer has a release window due to them having to wait on the “core network architecture” to be fine tuned. He also explained that, from his point of view, it would be good if enthusiasm for the game died down a little, going as far as to say“I think if DayZ has a soft launch, it’s the best thing that can happen to it.” He explained that it is a game that won’t take a lot to break even and one that he thinks would benefit by growing popular over time, rather than all at once. It is certainly an interesting business model, although he might have a tough time trying to convince his investors.

DayZ standalone was initially announced with a 2012 release date and the team recently had plans to announce their targeted release window but their latest gameplay dev diary explains why it’s not happening while also fleshing out some of the new features they’re working into the game. In the meantime, the original DayZ mod has been ported to Arma 3 so players still have that to hold them over until the full game releases.

So just for the moment, DayZ and Team Ico fans, cool your expectations. You may want to get comfy because you may be waiting for quite a while longer.