What’s Going on with The Last Guardian?

The Last Guardian, the highly anticipated title from legendary game developers Team Ico, has been in development limbo for as long as I remember. The game was originally announced back in 2009, and was originally slated for release in late 2011, but that date has been pushed back several times to sometime in 2012. But nothing about the game was shown at this year’s E3 (other than some vaguely sexist comments from the developer about why the main character couldn’t be a girl) , and the latest development is that Sony has abandoned the U.S. trademark for The Last Guardian.

But does this mean the title is officially dead? A trademark becomes abandoned when it hasn’t been used in a while, and it could be that Sony simply forgot to keep it updated. Square Enix had a similar misshap with Final Fantasy XIII Versus last year. It could also be that Sony has abandoned that trademark in favour of a different one. The listing iself states,

“CAUTION: Although federal registration for this particular filing is inactive, the mark may still enjoy common law rights, or may have been applied for again in a separate application. Further research may be warranted to determine where this mark is truly abandoned in commerce.”

So, it might not be as abandoned as it appears. Sony reps have come forward saying that the title is still in development and has not been abandoned. Time will only tell if this game ever sees the light of day. Let’s take a moment and bask in the pretty in what is the game’s only real trailer.