Shu Yoshida, former Head of Worldwide Studios at Sony Interactive Entertainment, has shared some insight on the development struggles faces by The Last Guardian.
During an interview with IGN Japan at Taipei Game Show 2025, Yoshida reflected on his decades-long career at Sony Interactive Entertainment and offered insights into the survival of one of PlayStation’s most challenging projects, The Last Guardian. He highlighted the unique challenges faced during the game’s development.
Initially announced in 2009 as a PlayStation 3 title, The Last Guardian became infamous for its prolonged development cycle, technical hurdles, and repeated delays. According to Yoshida, under another publisher, the game would’ve been canceled. He added that the development team encountered countless difficulties, but he believed in the vision of its director, Fumito Ueda. and the emotional impact it could have on players.
The former Head of Worldwide Studios at Sony Interactive Entertainment recounted how The Last Guardian’s blend of technical ambition and artistic storytelling made it a quintessential example of what PlayStation aims to support. According to him, it’s not just about making games that sell millions of copies. Rather, it’s about creating experiences that resonate deeply with players, and move them in ways they don’t expect.
Despite its challenges, The Last Guardian was released in 2016 exclusively for the PS4. The game may not have achieved blockbuster sales, but it was widely praised for its emotional storytelling, innovative mechanics, and the bond it created between a boy and the creature known as Trico. The boy can climb on structures, carry objects such as barrels, and operate mechanisms such as levers, while Trico’s size and agility allow it to reach areas that the boy cannot reach alone, and fight off guards who attempt to capture the boy. PC players keen on experiencing the game can now do so via the ShadPS4 emulator. While there are still some lingering graphical errors and missing visual effects, it is, for the most part, playable on even Valve’s handheld device.
