Exciting 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' 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 blurred and marked "Under NDA," they are tagged with the codename Project Copper, believed to be the internal name for this unannounced live-service Twisted Metal game.

The Twisted Metal franchise, known for its vehicle combat gameplay, originated on the PSone and hasn't seen a new release since the PlayStation 3 era. According to the developer, Project Copper was described 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 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 the Twisted Metal project amid mass layoffs announced in February 2024. At the time, the game "wasn't yet greenlit" but was in development at the UK studio Firesprite, which was affected by the layoffs.

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The cancellation of Twisted Metal reflects a broader shift at Sony away from live service games, following an initial push to develop more of these titles. Naughty Dog halted work 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 hindered 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 significant disappointment. It lasted only a few weeks before being taken offline due to extremely low player numbers, leading Sony to ultimately cancel the game and close its developer.

In January, Sony canceled two more 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 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 gave it an 8/10, praising it as "a miraculously enjoyable blend of comedy, violence, and thoughtfulness," despite its occasional overload of humor.