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

Exciting new images have surfaced online, showcasing Sony's now-canceled Twisted Metal game. These images suggest that developer Firesprite was crafting a live-service game that merged the series' iconic vehicular combat with battle royale elements. A former UI developer from Sony-owned Firesprite shared these screenshots on their online portfolio. Although the images are blurred and marked "Under NDA," they're tagged with the codename Project Copper, believed to be the internal name for this unannounced live-service Twisted Metal game.

The Twisted Metal series, a beloved vehicle combat franchise that started on the PSone and last saw an entry during the PlayStation 3 era, was set to evolve with Project Copper. According to the developer, it was a "third-person vehicular action combat game based on a classic IP owned by PlayStation and developed by Firesprite." The game promised "third-person shooter mechanics wrapped with third-person vehicle combat," aiming to be the last one standing in the arena (thanks, MP1st).

Unfortunately, Sony canceled Twisted Metal during mass layoffs announced in February 2024. At the time, the game "wasn't yet greenlit" but was in development at UK studio Firesprite, which Sony confirmed was affected by the cuts.

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The cancellation of Twisted Metal is part of a broader pullback by Sony from live service games. This shift followed an intense internal focus on developing more live service titles. For instance, Naughty Dog halted development on The Last of Us Online in December 2023, citing the need to dedicate 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 was a smashing success, selling 12 million copies in just 12 weeks and becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time, Sony's live service hero shooter Concord was a major disappointment. It lasted only a couple of weeks before being taken offline due to dismal player counts, eventually leading Sony to cancel the game entirely and close its developer.

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

Although it seems unlikely we'll see another Twisted Metal game in the near future, fans can look forward to the Twisted Metal TV series starring Anthony Mackie. The show is set to return for Season 2 on Peacock. IGN's review of Twisted Metal Season 1 gave it an 8/10, praising it as "a miraculously enjoyable blend of comedy, violence, and thoughtfulness," despite occasional overload of jokes.