The Last Guardian Pre-Order Numbers Are “Exceeding Expectations,” Says Sony

The Last Guardian‘s extremely long development cycle hasn’t done much to dampen excitement for the spiritual successor to Team Ico’s Shadow of the Colossus‘, it seems –  Sony has told MCV (via VideoGamer) that pre-order numbers for the whimsical action-adventure title are so far “exceeding expectations.” Speaking ahead of the game’s launch on PlayStation 4 next week, Sony product manager Joe Palmer told the site that, while he “can’t comment with specific details,” in regards to exact numbers, “pre-orders for The Last Guardian are exceeding expectations.”

“We’ve seen a really positive response to the Collector’s Edition in particular, which despite its higher price point proves there’s a huge appetite for the game,” adds Palmer. First announced all the way back in 2009 for PlayStation 3, further details for designer Fumito Ueda’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed Shadow of the Colossus quickly dried up, with many having assumed it’d been cancelled. The title eventually rose from the ashes at Sony’s 2015 E3 conference, having been repurposed as a PlayStation 4 title.

Despite the promising amount of pre-release buzz, however, Palmer says Sony is wary of overhyping the title, preferring instead to let the game’s merits speak for themselves when it releases next week.

“When you’re working on a game that has such incredibly high levels of expectation, it’s impossible not to consider the pressure of meeting player expectations. We’ve tried to avoid fuelling the hype by playing on the fact that people have been waiting a long time for this. We want people to be excited because the game looks incredible, not because of its complicated development story.”

Ueda too, is all too aware of the expectation that’s built up over the last ten years, having released a frank open letter earlier this week discussing the title’s troubled development history. With just seven days to go until The Last Guardian‘s release, there’s not long left to go now, until the final verdict comes out. Be sure to check-in next week for our review of the long-awaited adventure.