Fumito Ueda leaves Sony high and dry, is still under contract for TLG

[Wrath2X]

Confirmed: Ico Creator Fumito Ueda Leaves Sony
December 12, 2011
 
 
Following a series of rumors that Ico creator Fumito Ueda has left his position at Sony, Gamasutra can confirm that the esteemed creator is no longer an employee at the company.

In a statement received by Gamasutra on Monday, Sony confirmed that while the creator is no longer working as an employee, he is finishing the upcoming The Last Guardian on a contract basis, and is "committed to completing" the project.

Ueda's sudden departure is particularly significant, as The Last Guardian is still in mid-development, and is very much a product of Ueda's creative influence. In addition, Ueda's pedigree of successful games has placed him among Sony's top developers -- making this move a notable loss for the company.

Since joining Sony in 1997, Ueda has released just two titles: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. While his catalog might be sparse, both games stand among Sony's most celebrated classics, with modern developers still lauding even the decade-old Ico as one of their primary influences.

Prior to joining Sony, Ueda worked at the now-shuttered WARP, where he worked as an animator on the 1996 sci-fi horror title Enemy Zero for Sega Saturn.

The Last Guardian will be Ueda's first project to be released since Shadow of the Colossus in 2005. First revealed in May 2009, the game has seen numerous delays and has been withheld from the public eye for quite some time, with Gamasutra's most recent update dating back to September of last year.

The news of Ueda's departure follows similar news from last week, when The Last Guardian producer Yoshifusa Hayama announced his decision to leave Sony for social gaming company Bossa Studios.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/39100/Confirmed_Ico_Creator_Fumito_Ueda_Leaves_Sony.php

Well think of it this way Sfags, he'll probably still be around for 5 years considering he's under contract to finish The Last Guardian and all.

[Great Rumbler]

[Bebpo]

TEAN ICO Is FuCKING DOOMED



...
....

Yeah, sorry.  Let my gaf side run wild there.  Yeah, I don't see a good things coming out of this.

[Mr. Gundam]

Good to know that my daughter will probably be old enough to play it by the time it finally comes out.

[cool breeze]

Is there a reason? because, and this is from a totally ignorant perspective, I don't think a lot of other companies would support him and his two niche games a decade pace.  I always thought that it was like with Kaz...the Gran Turismo guy, where they stuck around because Sony let them make their expensive weird games unfiltered.

[Cormacaroni]

Why would ANY Japanese employee leave a full-time position w/benefits and bonus to work under contract? It makes no sense, unless this is purely a face-saving move and he is just being paid to not be nasty about Sony or work for Nintendo for a while.

[demi]

Has this guy made any good games? :shrug:

[Bebpo]

LOOK

This guy made two masterpieces under contract

WE SHOULD PAY HIM FOR 10 YEARS TO MAKE ANOTHER GAME THAT SELLS LESS THAN 300K at a loss of 20 million dollars!!!


Yeah, tbh, I dunno.  I think Ueda is a godly director who makes the best games there are, but I don't think there's any financial sense in letting him run totally unrestrained for years.  This is one of those situations where the side of me that likes art for the purity it is conflicts with the side of me that says DUDE YOU NEED TO RUN A BUSINESS FOR PROFIT.

TLG will be a bomb for Sony, but depending on how much effort Ueda & team puts into it on its way out, it could be the masterpiece of this generation.

[Sho Nuff]

Why would ANY Japanese employee leave a full-time position w/benefits and bonus to work under contract? It makes no sense, unless this is purely a face-saving move and he is just being paid to not be nasty about Sony or work for Nintendo for a while.

This. What is this I don't even

[cool breeze]

he made two games and he started with the PS1! you'd think he made Monster Hunter or something to be given so much time to make his games

I'm also baffled by how nice 2K is to Irrational games.  It seems crazy these days to let a developer take 5 years to build a single game. I think Bioshock made money, yes, but it still seems like a lot of leeway.  Granted it worked out for RAGE, Gran Turismo 5, Duke Nukem Forever...wait a minute 

[Human Snorenado]

Has this guy made any good games? :shrug:

answer- no

[Human Snorenado]

Using ICO as a litmus test for people who like actual, you know GAMES as opposed to people who want to wank to "interactive entertainment" is still one of the more useful methods for determining who will be up against the wall when the revolution comes.

[Bebpo]

GAMES TAKE TIME.


No, you're right.  Devs are in trouble these days.  If you seriously can't get a game design done in 36 months (3 years) you should be fired and not lead a team.  $100M+ movies get made in shorter times.  A producer should get an AAA 15-30 hour game finished in 2-3 years no problem with top of the line visuals and lots of content.  That is what the industry requires of you these days.   If you can't pull it off; then sorry, there are others who can.  Enjoy your vacation while searching for another job.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I didn't even post what Cormac said because I thought it was so obvious. Ueda can't handle the pressure and his ass got fired, but not before costing Sony tens of millions with nothing to show.

[Human Snorenado]

I didn't even post what Cormac said because I thought it was so obvious. Ueda can't handle the pressure and his ass got fired, but not before costing Sony tens of millions with nothing to show.

Also, inflicting ICO on the world.  Can't forget that shit.

[Bebpo]

I didn't even post what Cormac said because I thought it was so obvious. Ueda can't handle the pressure and his ass got fired, but not before costing Sony tens of millions with nothing to show.

This is depressing.  First Mitsuda, now Ueda.  Where are my Japanese devs with balls made of STEEL?

[Human Snorenado]

After DNF fiasco I fear for HL3. If Valve can't get it done in 7 years... well it must suck major donkey balls and they want to hide it forever.

This makes perfect sense, seeing as how Half-Life 2 took... seven years to come out.  DURP DURP DURP

[Momo]

brb punching myself in the nuts so the pain im feeling emotionally can manifest itself physically.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

lol yeah right.

Hope he ends up at Level 5 and not some shitty GREE thing

[close]

[pilonv1]

After DNF fiasco I fear for HL3. If Valve can't get it done in 7 years... well it must suck major donkey balls and they want to hide it forever.

Valve time is the only thing I'm never worried about. It's done when it's done.

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

gaming really isn't an auterist medium, or at least, it sure as shit ain't now.

I'd love to see the 'Team ICO' sensability continue, but I know that it really isn't financially sustainable for any sort of HD gaming and nobody in the world can anymore afford to bankroll loss leaders based on the quality that they might deliver down the road.

pity that.

[Cerveza mas fina]

I doubt Valve is really working on it.

Maybe a few people doing concepts or some shit.

[Joe Molotov]

Has this guy made any good games? :shrug:

Enemy Zero was okay.

[cool breeze]

Valve and Blizzard have earned the right to faff about making their games.  Blizzard's chatroom has been raking in cash since 2004, they own Korea, and Diablo 3 will literally ruin lives.  It's like asking why James Cameron was allowed to take a decade off before getting studio backing for Avatar.

[brob]

Liked Ico and Shadow of the Colossus enough. Don't see why Team Ico can't keep making games like that after the departure of Ueda. They've been at it for long enough that they should have a good grasp of it. Whether or not SCEJ president whatshisface is still interested in bankrolling them is another issue entirely tho.