"Canceled Twisted Metal Game Blended Vehicular Combat, Shooting, and Battle Royale, Developer Reveals"

Brand new images of Sony's canceled Twisted Metal game have surfaced online, revealing that developer Firesprite was working on a live service game that combined the franchise's iconic vehicular combat with battle royale elements. A former UI developer at the Sony-owned Firesprite studio shared a series of screenshots on their online portfolio, albeit blurred and marked "Under NDA." These images fall under the codename Project Copper, thought to be the internal moniker for the unannounced live-service Twisted Metal game.

Twisted Metal, a vehicle combat video game series that originated on the PSone and last saw a release during the PlayStation 3 era, was the basis for Project Copper. The developer described it as a "third-person vehicular action combat game based on a classic IP owned by PlayStation and developed by Firesprite." They further noted that the game incorporated "third-person shooter mechanics wrapped with third-person vehicle combat with the objective of being the last one standing" (via MP1st).

Sony reportedly canceled Twisted Metal amid mass layoffs announced in February 2024. At that time, the game "wasn't yet greenlit" but was being developed at the UK-based studio Firesprite, which was affected by the layoffs.

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The decision to cancel Twisted Metal comes amidst Sony's broader retreat from live service games. This shift follows an aggressive internal drive to develop more of these titles. Notably, Naughty Dog ceased development on The Last of Us Online in December 2023, citing the need to allocate all resources to post-launch content for years, which would have hindered their ability to create future single-player games.

While Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2 became a smashing success, selling 12 million copies in just 12 weeks and becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever, Sony's live service hero shooter Concord was a monumental flop. It lasted only a few weeks before being taken offline due to dismal player numbers, leading Sony to ultimately cancel the game and close its developer.

In January, Sony also canceled two other unannounced live service games: one a God of War title being developed by Bluepoint, and another from the Days Gone developer Bend.

Although it seems unlikely that we'll see a new Twisted Metal game in the near future, the Twisted Metal TV series, starring Anthony Mackie, is set to return for a second season on Peacock. IGN's review of Twisted Metal Season 1 awarded it an 8/10, praising it as "a miraculously enjoyable blend of comedy, violence, and thoughtfulness," despite its occasional overload of humor.