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

New images have surfaced online of Sony's canceled Twisted Metal game, suggesting that Firesprite, the developer, was working on a live service title that combined the series' iconic vehicular combat with battle royale elements. A former UI developer at Sony-owned Firesprite shared several screenshots on their online portfolio, though the images are blurred and marked "Under NDA." These screenshots are tagged with the codename Project Copper, believed to be the internal name for this unannounced live-service Twisted Metal game.

Twisted Metal, a beloved vehicle combat franchise that debuted on the PSone and last saw a new installment during the PlayStation 3 era, was being reimagined by Firesprite as a "third-person vehicular action combat game based on a classic IP owned by PlayStation." According to the developer, Project Copper incorporated third-person shooter mechanics alongside vehicular combat, with the goal of being the last player standing.

Sony canceled Twisted Metal amid widespread layoffs announced in February 2024. At that point, the game had not yet been greenlit, but it was in development at the UK studio Firesprite, which was affected by the layoffs.

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The cancellation of Twisted Metal reflects a broader retreat by Sony from live service games, following an initial push to develop more of these titles. Naughty Dog halted work on The Last of Us Online in December 2023, citing concerns that maintaining the game would consume all their resources and hinder future single-player game development.

Despite the success of Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2, which became the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game with 12 million copies sold in 12 weeks, Sony's live service hero shooter Concord was a major flop. It lasted only a few weeks before being taken offline due to dismal player numbers, eventually leading Sony to cancel the game and close its developer.

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

Although it seems unlikely that we'll see a new Twisted Metal game soon, fans can look forward to the continuation of the Twisted Metal TV series starring Anthony Mackie, which is set to return for Season 2 on Peacock. IGN gave Season 1 an 8/10, describing it as "a miraculously enjoyable blend of comedy, violence, and thoughtfulness," albeit with an overload of humor at times.