Twisted Metal Game Cancellation: Vehicular Combat, Shooter, Battle Royale Blend

Brand new images of Sony's canceled Twisted Metal game have surfaced online, hinting at a live-service title blending the series' signature vehicular combat with battle royale mechanics.

A former UI developer at Sony-owned Firesprite shared several blurred screenshots on their online portfolio. While marked "Under NDA," these images, codenamed "Project Copper," are widely believed to represent the unreleased Twisted Metal live-service game.

Firesprite described Project Copper as "a third-person vehicular action combat game based on a classic IP owned by PlayStation," featuring "third-person shooter mechanics wrapped with third-person vehicle combat with the objective of being the last one standing." (Source: MP1st)

Sony's February 2024 layoffs resulted in the cancellation of Twisted Metal, a game that, while in development at Firesprite, hadn't received final approval. Sony confirmed Firesprite was affected by the cuts.

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100 ImagesThe demise of Twisted Metal reflects Sony's apparent shift away from live-service games following a period of significant investment. Naughty Dog halted development on The Last of Us Online in December 2023, citing the extensive resources required for long-term post-launch support, which would have hindered future single-player projects.

While Arrowhead's Helldivers 2 achieved remarkable 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, proved a major setback, shutting down after only a few weeks due to extremely low player numbers. Sony subsequently dissolved the game's development studio.

Furthermore, Sony canceled two unnamed live-service games in January—one a God of War title from Bluepoint, the other from Bend Studio, the creators of Days Gone.

Although a new Twisted Metal game seems unlikely in the near future, the Twisted Metal TV series starring Anthony Mackie continues with Season 2 on Peacock. IGN's review of Season 1 awarded it an 8/10, praising its "miraculously enjoyable blend of comedy, violence, and thoughtfulness," despite occasional over-reliance on jokes.