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

New images of Sony's canceled Twisted Metal game have surfaced online, suggesting 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 Sony-owned Firesprite shared several screenshots in their online portfolio. Although the images are blurred and marked "Under NDA," they are tagged under the codename Project Copper, believed to be the internal name for the unreleased live-service Twisted Metal game.

Twisted Metal, a vehicle combat video game series that originated on the PSone and last saw a new release on the PlayStation 3, was reportedly 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 featured third-person shooter mechanics integrated with vehicular combat, with the goal of being the last player standing.

Sony canceled the Twisted Metal project amid mass layoffs announced in February 2024. At the time, the game had not yet been officially greenlit but was in development at the UK-based studio Firesprite, which was affected by the layoffs.

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The cancellation of Twisted Metal reflects Sony's broader retreat from live service games, following an initial push to create more titles in this genre. Naughty Dog, for instance, halted 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 the development of future single-player games.

Despite some successes like Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2, which became the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever with 12 million copies sold in 12 weeks, other live service ventures have been less successful. Sony’s live service hero shooter Concord was a notable failure, lasting only a few weeks before being taken offline due to low player engagement. Sony eventually decided to terminate the game and shut down its developer.

In January, Sony also canceled two other unannounced live service games: one from Bluepoint, which was working on a God of War title, and another from Bend Studio, known for Days Gone.

While fans may not 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 Season 1 gave it an 8/10, praising it as "a miraculously enjoyable blend of comedy, violence, and thoughtfulness," though noting it was sometimes overloaded with humor.