Just a few months after reportedly cancelling two unannounced live service games in the wake of the Concord catastrophe, Sony has unveiled a brand-new internal studio called TeamLFG, and yup, it's making a live service game.
"TeamLFG originated at Bungie, but has also rallied developers from across the industry to bring to life an ambitious incubation project that I’m very excited about," Sony's Hermen Hulst said in today's announcement. "The studio is now fully formed and ready to be introduced to the world."
The new studio isn't being headed up by any big names—or at least, none were mentioned in the reveal—but its developers include "industry veterans" who have worked on games including Destiny, Halo, League of Legends, Fortnite, Roblox, and Rec Room, as well as "newcomers with fresh creative perspectives and skills." What exactly they're getting up to also hasn't been revealed, but there's clearly going to be a strong social element to it.
"We want our players to feel excited when they log on to discover their teammates already hanging out online," the studio wrote. "We want our players to recognize familiar names and to make myths and memes out of each other. We want our players to love remembering that one time where they pulled off That Play that changed the whole story of the match.
"We will make immersive multiplayer worlds propelled by action games that players can learn, play, and master for countless hours. We want to build our games with our communities, inviting players to be a part of our development process through early access playtests. It’s critical that we stay nimble enough to react to player feedback, not just in our lead-up to launch, but throughout live service as we continue to grow the game and community for years to come."
So, live service confirmed, which is interesting given that Sony seemed a little gun-shy about the whole thing back near the start of the year. Understandably so: Concord was a massive failure that consumed hundreds of millions of dollars and years of development time, and nobody wants a repeat of that.
Of course, the flipside of that coin is Helldivers 2, a huge 2024 success that's still putting up enviable player numbers. As they used to say in the old lottery commercials, "You can't win if you don't play."
TeamLFG said in the announcement that its first game "is a team-based action game that draws inspiration from fighting games, platformers, MOBAs, life sims, and frog-type games," that takes place "in a lighthearted, comedic world set in brand-new, mythic, science-fantasy universe." Eurogamer speculates, probably correctly, that it's the MOBA-style PvP game codenamed Gummy Bears that began development at Bungie, but eventually transitioned to a brand-new PlayStation studio.
