Fumito Ueda’s New Year celebration included teasing his studio’s next game

Although our world continues on its infernal course, a New Year is a time to refresh and renew efforts on future projects. Fumito Ueda and his studio genDESIGN felt that this was the perfect time to remind everyone that they were still working on a new game.

The official genDESIGN website was recently updated with a new graphic celebrating the rollover of the calendar through 2021. Each number represents a defining game in the studio’s resume. But while the nods to classics like Ico, Shadow of the colossus, and The last guardian are obvious, the last work of art seems to be completely new.

Enlarging it a little, the picture shows a camouflaged figure standing resolutely next to a structure covered in vegetation that appears to be robotic or mechanical in nature. Behind them stretches a barren, damp landscape. I have no idea what to make of it, but it sure looks Ueda-esque and therefore very neat.

genDESIGN has a similar memorial picture

around the same time on Twitter with the news that the studio is working on “releasing new experiences as soon as possible”. The same work of art can also be found on Ueda’s personal website Based on a background video that shows how it was made, the only difference is a mysterious robot attachment that frames characters from previous games.

The aesthetics of these teaser images correspond to the indications of past years. genDESIGN ushered in 2018 a picture of a mysterious girl sit on an altar and bathed in light as it co-celebrated the beginning of 2020 a sketch of an undetectable mechanical construct.

Ueda has been working publicly on a new project for years. While accepting the trophy for excellence in character for The last guardian at the DICE Awards 2017

He mentioned being inspired to work on a new game.

During a lecture at the Nordic Game Conference later in the yearUeda said that genDESIGN toyed with the idea of ​​returning to the more open environment that one is in Shadow of the colossus for the next game. A few months later, said Ueda Eurogamer about the translator that he wanted to bring out another game “ASAP” after spending nearly a decade working on it The last guardian.

Even so, things seemed to slow down a bit in 2018 Polygon Regarding the financing process, Ueda explained that genDESIGN is not yet in a hurry to find a publisher to be able to realize ideas in a natural way. The studio should had found a partner in Epic Games Publishing.

It remains to be seen what will become of these strange images that genDESIGN has shared over the past few years, but Ueda is one of the game developers who, when it is time for him to announce a new game, everyone gives their undivided attention.