When Lightspeed LA announced lay-offs and a shift in direction for its first game, Last Sentinel, it came as a surprise. There had been no updates since its December 2023 reveal – no gameplay, no platforms, not even a release window. Unbeknownst to many, Tencent had ambitious plans for the title, reportedly including the creation of a cyberpunk open world inspired by Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto series.
Sources speaking to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier claim that Last Sentinel has seen six years of development and its budget is already in the hundreds of millions. Despite its ambition, including an “elaborate story,” “massive vertical city”, and destructible environments, it would face extensive turnover among staff (with the team’s size much smaller compared to Rockstar) and delays while an “unclear creative vision” hampered progress further.
To make things worse, “overwhelmingly negative feedback” was reported for an alleged internal playtest from earlier this year. Tencent apparently expressed its dissatisfaction with the project and gave Lightspeed LA an “ultimatum” to present something better by July. As you’d expect, the studio seemingly fell short, even after bringing in Todd Papy of God of War fame who was working with the publisher’s A1 team, and it opted not to continue with Last Sentinel’s current direction.
Schreier reiterated the report about 80 layoffs at the studio, and though the game is still in development, it’s allegedly going to look “drastically different” from its announcement. Of course, it may not even release, especially given all the problems so far. Time will tell but either way, chalk up Last Sentinel as yet another cursed announcement in The Game Awards’ history.
