Team Ico was a Japanese

video game development Video game development (or gamedev) is the process of developing a video game. The effort is undertaken by a developer, ranging from a single person to an international team dispersed across the globe. Development of traditional commercial PC ...

studio led by game designer

Fumito Ueda is a Japanese video game designer. Ueda is best known as the director and lead designer of '' Ico'' (2001) and ''Shadow of the Colossus'' (2005) while leading Team Ico at Japan Studio, and ''The Last Guardian'' (2016) through his own development ...

. It was part of

Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

Japan Studio's Product Development Department #1, and had developed the games ''

Ico is an action-adventure game developed by Japan Studio and Team Ico, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, released for the PlayStation 2 video game console in 2001 and 2002 in various regions. It was designed and directed by Fumito Ued ...

'' and ''

Shadow of the Colossus ''Shadow of the Colossus'' is a 2005 action-adventure game developed by Japan Studio and Team Ico, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It takes place in a fantasy setting and follows Wander, a young man who ent ...

'', both for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...

. The team was also initially responsible for ''

The Last Guardian ''The Last Guardian'' is a 2016 action-adventure game developed by Japan Studio and GenDesign and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Players control a boy who befriends a giant half-bird, half-mammal creature, ...

'' before Ueda's departure in 2011 and the formation of a new company taking over development in 2014. Their games are usually characterized by minimalist storytelling and gameplay, an atmospheric use of bloom and

high dynamic range rendering High-dynamic-range rendering (HDRR or HDR rendering), also known as high-dynamic-range lighting, is the rendering of computer graphics scenes by using lighting calculations done in high dynamic range (HDR). This allows preservation of details th ...

(HDR) lighting, and use of fictional languages. Their products are frequently cited as examples of video games as an art form.

Projects

In February 2007, Team Ico took out a full page advertisement in the Japanese gaming magazine ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...

''. The advertisement featured some early concept sketches on note paper, suggesting that the team's new game was then in the early phases of design. The following year, Sony updated its careers section with the first screenshot of Team Ico's third game headed to

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

. Posts available were for planners, animators, artists and effect designers. In March 2009,

, the lead designer of ''Ico'' and ''Shadow of the Colossus'', said the new game, "might be something similar to what's been done.... The essence of the game is rather close to ''Ico''." A video released in the weeks before

E3 2009 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009 (E3 2009) was the 15th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. It began on June 2, 2009, and ended on June 4, 2009, with 41,000 total attendees. Majo ...

showed early footage of the game with its working title, ''Project Trico''. The video shows a young boy befriending a

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon ( Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and ...

-like creature, which appears to combine the functionality of Yorda from ''Ico'' with that of Agro and the colossi from ''Shadow of the Colossus'', acting both as a companion and as a form of transportation which can be freely climbed upon. E3 2009 revealed the project's release title as ''

''.

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EG ...

reported that ''The Last Guardian'' had been posted for release for October 7, 2011 by UK retailers Asda, Tesco, Zavvi, The Hut, and Woolworths. Sony had stated that the game would make its release in the fall of 2011. After the first two ''

God of War A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in both monotheistic and polytheistic religions. Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been p ...

'' games were ported for the

, Ueda mentioned in an interview at the

Tokyo Games Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. ...

of an interest to do the same with both ''Ico'' and ''Shadow of the Colossus''. '' The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection'' was confirmed at the 2010 Tokyo Game Show, and was released worldwide in September 2011. During

E3 2015 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2015 (E3 2015) was the 21st E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. It took place from June 16 to June 18, 2015, with 52,200 total attendees. Major exhibit ...

, four years after the game had last been seen, Sony aired an official trailer for ''The Last Guardian'', revealing along with it that the game was to be released in 2016 for the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 i ...

. The trailer revealed that production was shifted to a new company founded by Ueda and other former staff known as genDESIGN, while Japan Studio would focus on programming and implementation. While the closure of Team Ico was never formally announced by Sony, it was predicated on Ueda's departure from Sony in 2011, following by several other members of the Team Ico staff the following year. Most of these became part of genDESIGN, the studio that completed the development of ''The Last Guardian''.

Games

References

{{PlayStation Studios Defunct video game companies of Japan Video game companies established in 1997 Video game companies disestablished in 2011 PlayStation Studios Video game development companies Japanese companies established in 1997 Japanese companies disestablished in 2011