This time it's a real-life unhappy ending for a Team ICO game.

Ueda's departure comes following a series of rumours surrounding the developer's employment.

But while Ueda's long-term future remains unclear, Sony confirmed that his immediate commitments are to complete what he started: upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive The Last Guardian. In a statement issued to Gamasutra, a Sony spokesperson said that Ueda is "committed to completing" the game on a contractual basis.

The 41-year-old's departure ends a 14 year tenure at Sony in which he created two of the platform's most iconic games. It's said Ueda will pursue personal projects upon his departure from Sony. Whether that includes making games or not remains unknown.

Last week, The Last Guardian's executive producer Yoshifusa Hayama also departed Sony in order to take a position at London based casual games outfit, Bossa.

Ueda's creativity has been a key component of the PlayStation philosophy for a while now, but with The Last Guardian suffering from such a protracted development cycle, we can understand the need for change. Sony's said its committed to finishing The Last Guardian, but we wouldn't be surprised if it never made it out of the door. Fingers crossed though, eh?

[source eurogamer.net]