Fans of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus have been waiting nearly a decade now for The Last Guardian. It’s been almost four years since the game’s teaser trailer was released at E3 2009.

This week, fans finally got a small tease and some assurance that The Last Guardian is still in development.

Fumito Uedo, the director and lead designer of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus posted a statement to his website. He makes it clear that he is still involved in the project, and that the game’s release date is up to Sony. The statement, in full:

As some of you may have heard, I left Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Studio some time ago to pursue my creative passions. Nevertheless, I continue working on THE LAST GUARDIAN as a freelance contributor.

While it’s been a long time coming, THE LAST GUARDIAN remains under my creative supervision and is still in development by an incredibly talented team.

I should also mention that details regarding THE LAST GUARDIAN’s release is solely decided by Sony Computer Entertainment, not myself. Please keep an eye out for their official announcement.

Moving forward, it is my intent to continue my involvement with THE LAST GUARDIAN project, as well as pursue new creative projects with a fresh perspective. As I rekindle my passions as a creator, I look forward to seeing where it will take me, and I deeply appreciate your support during this transition.

The plead to “keep an eye out” for an announcement would seem to imply that such an announcement might be imminent. Might that mean a glimpse of the project could come alongside Sony’s announcement of the PlayStation 4 one week from today? Or is the apologetic statement that the release date is “solely decided by Sony” a warning that no preview is coming at that event? So many mysteries, but the fact that The Last Guardian is even being addressed should be good news for Team Ico fans.