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Is this a tease for ‘The Last Guardian’ creator Fumito Ueda’s next game?

the last guardian fumito ueda next game teaser
January 1 marked the beginning of a new year, and possibly a new beginning for game developer Fumito Ueda. An image appeared on genDESIGN’s website, an independent team formed by Ueda, potentially teasing the fourth game from the creator of ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian.

On the updated website, scrolling past four birds brings visitors to the image posted above. It depicts a long-haired, childlike figure sitting on a stone altar. To her right is a large fist or paw that belongs to a mostly obscured giant figure. Neither figure is immediately recognizable from any of Ueda’s previous games, leading some to speculate that this is from his studio’s next project. According to ResetEra user Rösti, the image’s source code reveals some interesting text. This text labels the image as “Beauty and the Beast 2018.”

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Going further into speculation, the birds could be another hint that this is more than just a nice image capturing several themes that made Fumito Ueda famous. As VG 24/7 points out, birds and feathers are a motif that Ueda has used in all of his games. The number of birds in the image could be a clue towards a fourth game.

As a counterpoint to all this speculation, the childlike figure bears a striking resemblance to one of the silhouettes in the genDESIGN logo. Rather than a teaser image, this could very well be more of an expressive image about the studio.

Whether this is a new game or not, history tells us that fans likely won’t see a new game release anytime soon. The Last Guardian took almost 10 years to be released, with many believing it to be canceled throughout development. Fumito Ueda even left Sony in 2011 after the game was delayed, forming genDESIGN a few years later with some of his core members from Team ICO. In the same year, genDESIGN took over the development of The Last Guardian, working with Sony on a contract basis.

For now, fans have plenty of opportunities to visit Ueda’s past projects. The Last Guardian can be finished in a few gaming sessions as long as players are patient when controlling a wild animal. A complete remake of  Shadow of the Colossus also releases next month, giving newcomers the best opportunity to play a classic.

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Moonrider approaches the first boss in Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider.

Are you looking for that first great game of the year to play before 2023's AAA heavy hitters arrive? Check out Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider.
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider - Release Date Reveal Trailer
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The teams behind 2019's fantastic Contra-like Blazing Chrome -- Brazilian developer JoyMasher and Dotemu's indie publishing label The Arcade Crew -- reunited for the project, cementing themselves as some of the best retro throwback studios out there. If you're wondering if there are any great 2023 games to play ahead of highly anticipated games like Forspoken, then you won't want to ignore Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider.
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