Shadow of the Colossus Development Phases

Shadow of the Colossus, like any game, had several different development periods. This is a list of all of the known ones, with details for each one. The dates were taken from the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection Booklet.

Planning Phase

Nico tech demo - Shadow of the Colossus

In late-January 2002, the first storyboard draft for a presentation demo was completed.

In mid-May 2002, a real-time demo depicting a group of horned boys taking down a colossus was completed. It is available in the Nico bonus DVD, showing the battle against the colossus that would turn into the 2nd colossus.

Prototype Phase

In June 2002, Team Ico began trial production of "NICO (Tentative name)" and developed a test version with a small group of people. Ueda worked with coders on the deformation collision for six straight months.

In May 2003, Team Ico began production of "NICO" and presented a prototype at an internal meeting. Development approval was given after the first presentation.

1st Phase

On September 1st 2003, development for the project began in full. This is the time in development when the player was still a horned boy in a mask. The colossi were few and still rather simple and were tested in separate stages with no seamless map; that is, the open world divided by quadrants from the final game.

Clips of it are available in the Nico bonus DVD.

The horned boy fighting against the first in-game model of the 2nd colossus, "Boss A".

The first model of the 5th colossus.

The first model of the 9th colossus.

The first model of the 13th colossus, "Snake A".

2nd Phase

Later on in 2003, many colossi were in the works and their environments were taking shape. The player character first lost the mask, and then some short time later also lost the horns, while still keeping the blue shirt and pants.

Some pictures of the artbook show this phase.

The player climbing onto the unused Colossus named Saru. Note how the HUD is now on the top right.

The second model of the 13th colossus, "Snake B".

The first model of the unused colossus named Griffin, "Griffin A".

The first model of the 8th colossus, before it was named "Yamori B".

The early model of the unused Colossus named Spider.

3rd Phase

By the start of 2004, the game was in its third phase. The player character had developed further, having a 'tunic' instead of the shirt and pants of earlier phases. One of the key aspects of identifying this phase is by looking at the HUD.

Pictures and clips of it are available in the artbook, in the Nico bonus DVD and in trailers.

The model of the 9th colossus did not change much from previous phases, but part of its boss icon can be seen in the bottom left, and the blue vest design of Wander can be seen on top of it.

Footage of the battle against the second model of the 13th colossus, barely changed from the previous phase.

This early version of the 1st colossus has much hairier legs.

The early version of the 4th colossus' arena.

The early model of the 16th colossus, known as Buddha, before it was the final boss.

Uncropped picture of Buddha from the interview section of the artbook showing how the HUD looked like, with the player's on the right and the boss' on the bottom left.

Footage of a forest test resembling the one from the introduction cutscene, with the player's full HUD on the right.

4th Phase

Sometime after the start of 2004. The HUD was changed again, this time lasting a long time, only being replaced in the final phases. The first seamless map was also created around this period, which was mostly flat with many arenas missing. Any footage that was taken on a vast dry area was in this first seamless map. G0, B2 and the old I7 found in the preview version and earlier are all remnants of this time.

Pictures and clips of it are available in the artbook, in the Nico bonus DVD and in trailers.

Early version of the 3rd colossus.

Spider on the first seamless map somewhere on the "F" column.

Footage of the entrance to the 1st colossus' arena on the first seamless map.

Footage of the updated model of the 1st colossus. Note the different HUD.

Footage of the 4th colossus' early arena.

5th Phase

Mid-2004, the game's title was finally chosen as "Wanda and the Colossus". The seamless map was further developed and the arenas were all placed. The sky still lacked the yellow tint of the next phase and its seamless loading still didn't look up to par. The player character's design was very close to completion, having brown clothing instead of the blue one.

Pictures of it are available in the artbook and in the Nico bonus DVD.

The unused colossus named Phoenix.

The unused colossus named Roc on its tower.

G7 from the Nico bonus DVD.

Early B5.

Next to the 10th colossus' arena.

6th Phase

Footage of Roc from rare promo disc

Mid to late 2004, the yellow tinted sky was added and many promotional pictures and footage were taken in order to show the press, making it the most famous beta phase. The game was shown to the public in order to garner reactions and adjust the game in response.

The updated model of the 2nd colossus.

Footage of the updated model of the 13th colossus.

The updated model of the 3rd colossus. Note the tall towers surrounding its arena in the background.

The early version of B3 when it housed Yamori A, in its unused arena named Sluice.

The unused colossus named Devil.

The early version of the 10th colossus' arena.

7th Phase

Late 2004 to the start of 2005, due to the reception, lack of time, lack of budget and some developers leaving, several colossi and locations were decided to be removed before being finished, eventually leading to the final version we have today. The player character was unchanged from the previous phase.

8th Phase

Throughout 2005, several builds were distributed to the press, game conventions and the like. The game was already in its final touches, with the player character finally being the finished Wander. It is what is known by the community as the "Arms build", as the HUD has the text "Arms" on it.

The Pre-E3, E3, OPM and PSU Preview versions can be considered part of this period.

Final Phase

October 18th 2005, the final American (NTSC-U) version is released, receiving critical acclaim from reviewers. In October 27th 2005 the Japanese (NTSC-J) version released, and then in February 2006 the International (PAL) was released to the rest of the world.