It's been seven years since work started on The Last Guardian, five years since it was announced, and who knows how many rumor posts saying that the game — begun as, and possibly still, a PlayStation 3 title — has been canceled.

Most recently, that common rumor surfaced right before this year's E3.

It's not just the long wait that drives these rumors, the game has run into some significant issues, including the departure of producer Fumito Ueda as a full-time employee at Sony. He does remain on the project as a consultant, but the story of the game's creation remains deeply hidden.

So when I wrapped up my interview with Sony worldwide studios head Shuhei Yoshida with one more question, Yoshida knew what was coming.

"It exists. The team is working hard on it," he intoned almost rhythmically. "I was heartbroken when some article came out on some major site saying it was canceled."

Yoshida reiterated that he has played the game, but declined to say anything about the experience. That long-running silence, I told him, might be why people start to think the game is dead. People start to worry.

"I will say this," Yoshida said. "When we cancel a title and it is something we have announced already, we'll say so.

"It's a highly anticipated title, we have to do so."