Canceled Twisted Metal Game Was Part Vehicular Combat, Part Shooter, Part Battle Royale, Dev Says

Newly surfaced images of Sony's canceled Twisted Metal game have sparked interest online, revealing that developer Firesprite was crafting 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 on their online portfolio. Although the images are intentionally blurred and marked "Under NDA," they are listed under the codename Project Copper, which is believed to have been the internal name for the unannounced live-service Twisted Metal game.

Twisted Metal, a vehicle combat video game series that debuted on the PSone and last released 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 and developed by Firesprite." According to the developer, Project Copper incorporated "third-person shooter mechanics wrapped with third-person vehicle combat with the objective of being the last one standing" (thanks, MP1st).

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

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Twisted Metal's cancellation is part of Sony's broader retreat from live service games, following a significant internal push to develop more of these titles. Naughty Dog ceased 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 severely impacted their ability to create future single-player games.

While Arrowhead's Helldivers 2 became a massive 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 failure. It lasted only a few weeks before being taken offline due to extremely low player numbers. Sony eventually decided to terminate the game completely and close its developer.

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

Although it appears 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 Season 2 on Peacock. IGN's review of Twisted Metal Season 1 awarded it an 8/10, stating: "Though overloaded with jokes at times, Twisted Metal is a miraculously enjoyable blend of comedy, violence, and thoughtfulness."