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

Exciting new images of Sony's canceled Twisted Metal game have surfaced online, shedding light on what could have been a thrilling addition to the franchise. Developer Firesprite was reportedly working on a live-service game that promised to combine the series' iconic vehicular combat with battle royale elements, a fusion that could have revitalized the beloved series.

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

Despite the franchise's roots in vehicle combat dating back to the PSone and its last entry on the PlayStation 3, Project Copper was described as a "third-person vehicular action combat game based on a classic IP owned by PlayStation and developed by Firesprite." The developer further explained that it featured "third-person shooter mechanics wrapped with third-person vehicle combat with the objective of being the last one standing" (via MP1st).

Sony's decision to cancel Twisted Metal came amidst significant layoffs announced in February 2024. At the time of cancellation, the game "wasn't yet greenlit" but had been in development at the UK-based studio Firesprite, which was confirmed to be affected by the layoffs.

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The cancellation of Twisted Metal reflects Sony's broader retreat from live service games, a strategic shift following an aggressive push into this genre. For instance, Naughty Dog 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 compromised their ability to focus on future single-player titles.

While Arrowhead's Helldivers 2 became a smashing 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 turned out to be a massive disappointment. It lasted merely a couple of weeks before being taken offline due to abysmally low player numbers, leading Sony to ultimately cancel the game and shut down its developer.

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

Although a new Twisted Metal game seems unlikely in the near future, fans can look forward to the continuation of the Twisted Metal TV series starring Anthony Mackie. Set to return for Season 2 on Peacock, the show received an 8/10 in IGN's review of Season 1, which praised it as "a miraculously enjoyable blend of comedy, violence, and thoughtfulness," despite its occasional overuse of humor.