Fumito Ueda, leader of Team Ico and director of such classics as Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, is no longer employed by Sony. The news has not been confirmed officially, but according to sources, Ueda has left to start his own operations while remaining as a freelancer on The Last Guardian, presumably to see the troubled project through.
Very little news has surfaced about The Last Guardian in the last year, and this may very well be a result of the troubled development. It will be interesting to see whether or not Ueda will be on hand the next time The Last Guardian is being presented (E3?), or if his freelance position is more of a face saving measure.
Hopefully, this will not impact the quality of the highly anticipated PS3 exclusive, but obviously it does not bode well.