Update: As spotted by ResetEra, veteran Motorstorm director Matt Southern has left his job at Lucid Games to join Firesprite. It might be safe to assume that Southern was involved with Sony's new-gen Twisted Metal reboot, which has changed developer from Lucid Games to Firesprite. Of course, it won't change the commute too much for Southern: both studios are based in Liverpool, UK.
Original Story: Sony is making a Twisted Metal reboot for the PlayStation 5 to coincide with its impending 2023 television show, although its developer has changed. VGC reported the news earlier today, but we can corroborate the information. We were informed late last year that Liverpool-based studio Lucid Games had been ejected from a Sony published project, which was handed to a “recently acquired” first-party team, almost certainly Firesprite, the developer of Horizon Call of the Mountain. To add to the drama, Lucid Games and Firesprite are both headquartered in the same UK city: Liverpool.
According to our sources, this change was sudden and unexpected. Development of a new Twisted Metal has been an open secret for some time now, and while Sony has yet to publicly acknowledge the existence of the game, it’s still very much on the agenda internally. Firesprite has been hiring for a multiplayer game, and is currently Sony’s largest team in the UK.
It’s unclear exactly why Lucid Games was removed from the project, but one source told VGC that it could be due to the lukewarm critical reception Destruction AllStars received. Our understanding is that work continues on the former PS Plus freebie, with a major update due later this month, although whether that will revive the car combat title’s fortunes remains to be seen.
As for Sony’s Twisted Metal television show, it’s being billed as an action comedy, in which a courier is forced to navigate a wasteland ruled by a group of raucous vehicular raiders, including the iconic Sweet Tooth. Whether or not the PS5 reboot will play into the fiction of the show remains unclear, but it’s interesting that the platform holder has decided to develop this in the UK, as the series has historically always performed best in the US. Creator David Jaffe recently talked with some displeasure over the rumoured existence of the game, as he apparently hadn’t been contacted about it at the time.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 55
Great news, was not confident at all with Lucid at the helm after the ever underwhelming Destruction All-Stars, that game proved they weren't capable of handling a bigger IP in the same genre.
Yeah after all stars I'm glad it changed. I hope it does look like fortnite
Destruction All-Stars was tripe so this is definitely a good thing
For those of us who never saw what the point in this franchise was, its just wasted Dev power, lol.
Cars with guns is the worst thing to control ever unless its sl....ow like a tank! So never enjoyed the originals and have no desire at all to see a follow up. A couple of memorable characters does not a good game make...
Still I appreciate this is good news for fans, so happy for them..
I still maintain that Destruction All-Stars was doomed from the minute it was pitched. Not even the most talented dev could turn that into a success. Not sure that a new Twisted Metal will catch on either.
@Titntin I think there's potential, though. I have no idea what they plan to do with Twisted Metal, but I could certainly imagine something like a Battle Royale being potentially popular, especially as I don't believe a "car combat"-style Battle Royale exists.
But yes, they have an uphill battle, particularly in Europe where there's very little nostalgia for the series at all.
That's a shame for Lucid Games. Regardless of what you think of AllStars, them doing a Twisted Metal reboot was a big opportunity for them.
Take 2 interactive bought Zynga games. Fun fun fun.
No matter who is behind Twisted Metal. It's gonna flop hard. These kind of games aren't requested besides by a very loud minority on the internet. Just take a look at Destruction AllStars which is the same game, more or less. Plus Destruction AllStars was on PS Plus and still nobody cared. The Nostalgia factor won't help whatsoever. Just wait and watch.
@JAMes-BroWWWn Not really the same, Twisted Metal is almost like a shooter/fighting game hybrid — albeit with cars.
I don't think it's fair to write it off totally. If they nail the gameplay loop there's certainly potential. It'll all depend on execution, though.
@JAMes-BroWWWn Yeah, I wonder who's been asking for this. I know some will love it, but it's not a large audience I suspect.
I also thought Firesprite was from Japan, based on their logo, I guess not, lol.
@Octane Haha, no, they're based in Liverpool, UK. Absolutely gigantic team now, though.
Oh gosh. I'd be trembling in my boots if I were Lucid Games right now. Independent studios seem hard enough to keep going as it is, let alone when that studio's major next game is unexpectedly ripped from them. Ouch.
@Octane if people had to ask for something for it to exist we would have very little.
@MrSensical It seems like they're hiring for another project now so hopefully all is okay aside from the obvious frustration/disappointment.
@get2sammyb
I certainly hope so! I'd love to see them take this franchise and make something that really appealed out of it, so I'm hoping for the best, even if I expect the worst.
Liverpool devs eh? Last time I was in Liverpool for a dev party was with Psygnosis celebrating the launch of the very first F1 game on psx - how did we get to 2022? Can I go back? lol
Seems unfair to judge Lucid based on the performance of an entirely new ip vs how a reboot would be received. Probably enough of a nostalgia factor built in for any dev to achieve some modest sales figures.
Oh well though I wasn't gonna play this anyway. Never my thing. Nor is Destruction All Stars.
This is probably for the best, many of the folks at Firesprite have experience with the Wipeout series, combined with the darker tones from working on The Persistence, I'm not saying Lucid Games was a bad choice to make a Twisted Metal Reboot (I was all for it), but combining Firesprite's experience with Wipeout & The Persistence probably made a bit more sense to Sony.
I really hope those GAaS rumors are false because I really want a quality Single-Player Campaign to go along with a kickass Multiplayer Mode, if it just ends up being a GAaS Multiplayer-Only Game, I'll just end up skipping it.
"..a courier is forced to navigate a wasteland ruled by a group of raucous vehicular raiders.."
Ahhhhhh, just like I remembered twisted metal to be. Or was that the mad max game? Or the movie book of eli?
Yeah, that's a good move. I hope this new twisted metal still has that gritty feelings like the previous games, not bright and colourfull like destruction all-stars.
Had a lot of fun with Twisted Metal Black on the PS2. Definitely keeping an eye on it.
Hopefully the single-player portion of the game is substantial, though.
All I ask it that it's not called just "Twisted Metal".
That's great news, I wish Lucid Games success and health on their future endeavors but I don't want to see them on anything that has cars and combat.
To this day I feel completely ripped off by Destruction All-Stars which I got free with PS Plus, what a awful little game. I hope this new TM takes more from TM Black and less from Fortnite.
I'd welcome a new Twisted Metal done right, but switching devs suddenly...? That doesn't invoke confidence in the project... and it hasn't even been officially announced.
A shame cause despite Destruction All stars' issues, it's still a slightly better live service vehicular combat attempt than their previous one, Hardware Rivals, and it atleast gave the devs some experience. I honestly don't know how Firesprite games, who only games that they have worked on was Persistence and Playroom, could handle the game since they dont have any existing experience on making a vehicular combat game.
My one guess on why they did this, considering they're currently on a VR game, it's probably to release the game not just on PS5 but also on PSVR2.
Great, I love most ps games but destruction was a nope since they show it for the first time, what this game doesn't need is "from destruction all stars developers". Also, if now the development is internal even better.
sony chose not to give this iconic franchise to one of its A tier studios. so... we are going to get exactly what they paid for, so to speak. a medicore or slightly above average product that will likely disappoint what hardcore fans still remain for this ip. either outsource it to a proven studio or don't make it at all.
here is an idea: outsource it to the folks at codemasters who developed onrush — you know, the same folks who used to work at evolution studios before sony shut it down. letting go of great talent like that will hurt you in the end as they would have been perfect for this twisted metal reboot.
@Porco "here is an idea: outsource it to the folks at codemasters who developed onrush — you know, the same folks who used to work at evolution studios before sony shut it down."
That's exactly what they did, just not with Codemasters. Firesprite was founded by and is made up of ex-Studio Liverpool devs, the team that made Wipeout for 20 years, before Sony shut them down in 2012 (just months after Wipeout 2048 launched).
@GeneJacket wow, i did not know that firesprite was made up of ex liverpool staff. what a bizarre chain of events. why would these ex liverpool staff members sell themselves off to sony for a second time after having been dumped in 2012? that gives me more hope for the twisted metal reboot but unless it performs to expectations, they may yet again be at risk of closure some day.
@Porco Yep, as a MASSIVE Wipeout fan, it actually pisses me off that Firesprite allowed themselves to be bought by Sony after they didn't allow them to do anything but Wipeout for 18 years, then shut then down when 2048 didn't sell on hardware Sony themselves completely failed to support.
@PhhhCough Yeah, that has nothing to do with TM, not sure what the point of the TV show is.
@JAMes-BroWWWn As a big Twisted Metal 2 fan, Destruction all Starts is no where near the same game. It's the same game in the same way Battlefield and Battlefront are the same game as CoD. Destruction all stars is a demolition-derby with powers, Twisted Metal involves weapons (machine guns, rockets, napalms etc), larger maps, at least a mildly destructible environment, unique car powers, and common car powers. Running into each is just a small part of the gameplay, while it's vital and the core to destruction all stars. Not to mention it has no annoying YouTube celebrity culture for it's characters or artsyle.
@Ralizah I hope to see character specific endings to be honest i want to see Twisted Metal World Tour 2.🤗
@Jaz007 I agree Twisted Metal is nothing like Destruction Allstars if you look at the setting alone.
@Porco you just make sure you don't eat after dark.
@Jaz007 I feel the show should be seen from calypso's perspective and lean towards TMB. And he visits blackfield asylum and offers the inmates the chance for a wish, if they participate in his race/game.
-keep a GoT/TWD/squid games-vibe going. Who's gonna die? Who knows, just like the game. That way no one knows who the victor will be, til the end.
-each episode will feature an origin story or two, then the visit from calypso.
-culminating in a two-episode finale, where the remaining few battle it out, before facing calypso.
How is any of this hard to do?
Would make for an intresting fit for Firespirite, The Persistence is a personal favorite and am really looking forward to their the multiple projects their making for Sony - one revealed (with Horizon), one rumored (this one), and one yet to be shown (a dark fantasy new IP i believe).
Ah the potential for a current gen Twisted Metal excites me greatly😁
Imagine the level of destruction that could be possible, interactive set pieces going off through the middle of a battle, oh boy I hope this is good!
Awesome news, looking forward to both the PS5 reboot and the TV show!
i just want it to be good. Twisted Metal Black is one of my favorite games ever, as is TM2...
@get2sammyb wonder if Sony will merge Lucid Games into Firesprite 🤔
I just want another Motorstorm
Great, motorstorm games were fire back in the day.
Ok... Motorstorm dev jumping on board? That's actually some really good news. I now look forward to hearing more.
But so if I'm reading this correctly it got moved from Lucid to Firesprite, but they also pulled in the director from Lucid (who was presumably already working on it) to join?
Weird.
Motostorm is still my favorite PlayStation race game.so much fun.word up son
Loved twisted metal and twisted metal 2 on the PS1. Hopefully this can be done right with some cool destruction and map altering. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some sort of battle Royale mode. Possibly with the ability to create your own car/character/loadout. Either way I’m in.
I can imagine the developers having a hard time creating a current gen product based on the old Twisted Metal games. Using the same setting as the tv show in the game, while still making it it's own product, does increase its chances for success.
@vict0RGM Why? The campaign can be kept shorter and simpler in its setup and it's absolutely perfect for setting up the multiplayer portion of the game, which for Twisted Metal should be huge. The current gen could do great things with destruction in the environment.
Twisted Metal should not be open-world.
@PhhhCough That sounds so much better than TM being turned into Mad Max. The only way a wasteland makes any sense in that the world has been ruined by the tournaments, but then it makes more sense to show the tournament and the destruction it causes, EG, leaning back to your idea.
Part of me wonders if the TM formula would work in today’s landscape. They were very buggy and janky games to begin with. I reckon the devs would need to modernise the formula in new and unique ways.
Don’t get me wrong I played World Tour a Crazy amount….
@zupertramp Sounds like a soap opera!
I don’t even remember Destruction All-Stars
I have never played a Twisted Metal game but they always seemed like the kind of games I would enjoy, if this is real I will likely end up checking it out, I bet it looks stunning on PS5.
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