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

Exciting yet bittersweet news has emerged for fans of the iconic Twisted Metal franchise: new images of a canceled game have surfaced online, revealing that developer Firesprite was working on a live service game that would have combined the series' renowned vehicular combat with battle royale elements. A former UI developer at Sony-owned Firesprite shared these intriguing screenshots on their online portfolio. Although blurred and marked "Under NDA," these images fall under the codename Project Copper, widely believed to be the internal name for the unannounced live-service Twisted Metal game.

The Twisted Metal series, which originated on the PSone and hasn't seen a new installment since the PlayStation 3 era, 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 was set to include third-person shooter mechanics integrated with vehicular combat, with the ultimate goal of being the last one standing, as reported by MP1st.

Unfortunately, Sony canceled the project amid widespread layoffs announced in February 2024. At the time of cancellation, the game "wasn't yet greenlit," but development had been ongoing at the UK-based studio Firesprite, which was affected by the layoffs.

This cancellation is part of a larger pullback by Sony from live service games, following a significant internal effort to focus on these types of games. Other projects, like Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Online, were also halted in December 2023, as the studio chose to prioritize future single-player titles over the long-term commitment required for live service games.

While Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2 proved to be a massive success, selling 12 million copies in just 12 weeks and becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever, Sony faced a stark contrast with its live service hero shooter, Concord. The latter was one of the most notable failures in PlayStation's history, lasting only a few weeks before being discontinued due to low player engagement. Sony eventually decided to terminate the game and shut down its developer.

Adding to the list of canceled projects, Sony also axed two other unannounced live service games in January: one being a God of War title developed by Bluepoint and another at Bend Studio, the team behind Days Gone.

Although the future of a new Twisted Metal game appears uncertain, fans can look forward to the continuation of the Twisted Metal TV series on Peacock, starring Anthony Mackie. IGN's review of the first season gave it an impressive 8/10, praising it as "a miraculously enjoyable blend of comedy, violence, and thoughtfulness," despite occasionally being overloaded with humor.

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