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"That brings me great joy."
Half a dozen years have passed since PlayStation shut down its forums, erasing one of gaming's most iconic communities—a devoted group of secret-hunters convinced that Fumito Ueda's Shadow of the Colossus still contained a final mystery, and who spent nearly a decade trying to uncover it. Now, in a conversation with Eurogamer after the unveiling of his newest title, Gen Atlas, Ueda has offered his perspective on the fascination his acclaimed works have sparked among players.
Eurogamer contributor Craig Owens chronicled the extensive quest for Shadow of the Colossus' ultimate hidden element in 2013, noting, "Secret-seekers had discovered a base on Sony's official forums, where they gathered to speculate about where the game's remaining secrets and Easter Eggs might be located. Early theories centered on the possibility of climbing above the secret garden to reach the temple's roof. More daring explorers hoped that... players could somehow unlock a hidden ending. And the most imaginative idea of all was that a concealed 17th colossus existed somewhere in the Forbidden Lands."
By the time Owens' piece came out, the prevailing view among secret-hunters seemed to be that the game had likely been fully explored, with little left to discover. Yet that didn't stop the original thread from persisting for several more years until PlayStation's official forums closed in 2020. So what does Shadow of the Colossus creator Fumito Ueda think about the effect his games have had on players and those who became secret-seekers, and about the lasting allure of his worlds? Eurogamer posed this question to him at Summer Game Fest.
"I feel very lucky that there are individuals who keep searching for hidden elements," he said through a translator. "I'm simply grateful they want to engage with the world, with the experience, and that they wish to reconnect with it and feel part of it. That brings me great joy."
"When I'm a consumer of other entertainment, not just games but also films," he added, "I'm attracted to stories or works that make me seek out what isn't explicitly stated or shown, or that I need to investigate. To me, that's entertainment that's exceptionally well-executed and crafted. So when people experience the same with my games, it shows their interest runs very deep, and I truly value that feeling they have."
Ueda noted that while creating his games, "my goal is that the takeaway, or the emotion you're left with, is that you ask yourself: could this world—or does this world—really exist? Is it believable, is it grounded in the reality of that setting? Yes, there's a sense of wonder, but will you reflect on the world years later? And if the answer is yes, then I feel I've achieved the experience I intended to build."
Shadow of the Colossus seemed to accomplish exactly that. As one secret-hunter reflected to Eurogamer in 2013, when all the game's mysteries had apparently been exhausted, "It was the search that mattered... it's like a Rorschach test, people project their own hopes and beliefs onto the vast empty landscapes and see secrets that aren't there—they just wish they were."
Ueda's upcoming project, Gen Atlas, appears poised to carry on the celebrated designer's talent for crafting captivating, enticing worlds. It's slated for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and the Epic Games Store on PC at an unspecified future date, and for those curious about its unusual title, Ueda recently told Eurogamer it carries more significance than you might expect.