"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 series' signature vehicular combat with battle royale elements.

A former UI developer at the Sony-owned Firesprite studio shared several screenshots on their online portfolio. Although the images are blurred and marked "Under NDA," they are listed under the codename Project Copper, which is believed to be the internal name for this unannounced live-service Twisted Metal game.

Twisted Metal is a well-known vehicle combat video game franchise that debuted on the PSone and hasn't had a new release since the PlayStation 3 era. The developer described Project Copper as a "third-person vehicular action combat game based on a classic IP owned by PlayStation and developed by Firesprite."

They further explained that the game included "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 amid mass layoffs announced in February 2024. At the time, the game "wasn't yet greenlit" but had been in development at the UK studio Firesprite, which was affected by the layoffs.

The 100 Best PlayStation Games of All Time

100 ImagesTwisted Metal was one of several projects shelved during Sony's broader retreat from live service games. This followed a significant internal effort to develop more of these types of games. For instance, Naughty Dog halted development on The Last of Us Online in December 2023, citing that it would have required all its resources for post-launch content for years, severely impacting its ability to create future single-player games.

While Arrowhead's Helldivers 2 was a smashing success, becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever with 12 million copies sold in just 12 weeks, Sony's live service hero shooter Concord was a major disappointment. It lasted only a few weeks before being taken offline due to extremely low player numbers. Sony eventually decided to cancel the game entirely and shut down 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 at Days Gone developer Bend.

Although it seems unlikely we'll see another Twisted Metal game soon, 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 gave it an 8/10, stating, "Though overloaded with jokes at times, Twisted Metal is a miraculously enjoyable blend of comedy, violence, and thoughtfulness."