PlayStation continues live service obsession with new studio of Bungie veterans
Sony may have closed down several studios last year, including Concord developer Firewalk Studios and London Studio, but the company is now starting to plant new seeds.
Earlier this year, Dark Outlaw Games, led by Call Of Duty alumni Jason Blundell, was officially announced. Now, PlayStation has unveiled another new studio, only this time formed primarily from ex-Bungie developers.
The new studio, named teamLFG, is based in Washington, US and is made up primarily of former Bungie developers. However, it also includes people that have worked on a myriad of different online games, including League Of Legends, Fortnite, Roblox, and Rec Room.
As outlined in a PlayStation blog post, teamLFG (which stands for 'Looking For Group') are working on an 'ambitious incubation project' which, based on the studio's name and introduction, sounds like it will be a live service project.
'We are driven by a mission to create games where players can find friendship, community, and belonging,' reads a statement from the team. 'We want our players to feel excited when the log on to discover their teammates already hanging out online.
'We want our players to recognise 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. As we say on the team – dat's da good stuff.'
They added: '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.'
When it comes to the studio's first project, teamLFG describes it as a 'team-based action game that draws inspiration from fighting games, platformers, MOBAs, life sims, and frog-type games'. And no, we don't know what that means either.
'Players will inhabit a lighthearted, comedic world set in a brand new, mythic, science-fantasy universe,' the statement adds.
Weirdly, this isn't the first time 'frog-type games' have been mentioned. This same synopsis was used by Bungie in 2023 when it announced it was hiring for a new incubation project, so this is presumably the exact same game but now under Sony's wing.
One of our favorite incubation projects is a team-based action game inspired by several genres in a brand-new, science-fantasy universe.It draws inspiration from fighting games, platformers, MOBAs, life sims, and frog-type games, wrapped up in a lighthearted, comedic world. — Bungie (@Bungie) August 18, 2023
While we'd at least be curious to see a battle royale take on Frogger, the announcement of this studio suggests PlayStation is still committed to live service games despite the failure of Concord, something PlayStation Studios CEO Hermen Hulst stated in December last year. More Trending
Sony is already hoping Bungie's next online shooter Marathon will hit when it launches later this year, along with heist shooter Fairgame$ from Haven. A Horizon multiplayer spin-off is also rumoured to be in the works, but hasn't been officially announced.
Sony has seen success in the live service space with Helldivers 2, but the amount of funds being pumped into these risky multiplayer projects – seemingly at the expense of single-player titles – is starting to show in the 2025 release slate.
The only Sony-published single player games coming out this year are Death Stranding 2 and Ghost Of Yōtei, and only the latter is made by an internal studio.
There's a chance more could be announced at a future State Of Play, but when so many live service games barely last a year, it's worrying to see Sony continue to devote so much time and resources to the concept, at theexpense of other styles of games.
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