Sony has announced a new PlayStation studio called teamLFG and teased its debut game.
In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Hermen Hulst, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Studio Business Group, said that teamLFG “originated” at Destiny and Marathon developer Bungie, and is working on an “ambitious” incubation project he’s “very excited about.”
The LFG in teamLFG stands for ‘Looking For Group,’ as per the online vernacular, and it sounds like social gaming is a big part of the games it wants to make. Its first game is a team-based action game that draws inspiration from fighting games, platformers, MOBAs, life sims, and “frog-type games.” “Players will inhabit a lighthearted, comedic world set in brand-new, mythic, science-fantasy universe,” teamLFG said.
“We are driven by a mission to create games where players can find friendship, community, and belonging,” the new developer added.
“We want our players to feel excited when they log on to discover their teammates already hanging out online. 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. As we say on the team – dat’s da good stuff.
“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.”
It’s the mention of “live service” here and growing the community for “years to come” that has already raised eyebrows among PlayStation fans. While Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2 was a breakout hit, becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time with 12 million copies sold in just 12 weeks, Sony’s other live service games were either canceled or suffered disastrous launches.
Indeed, Sony’s Concord is one of the biggest video game disasters in PlayStation history, lasting just a couple of weeks before it was brought offline amid eye-wateringly low player numbers. Sony later decided to kill the game entirely and shut its developer.
The Concord flop came after Sony had already canceled Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us multiplayer game. And earlier this year, Sony reportedly canceled two unannounced live service games, one a God of War title in development at Bluepoint, the other in the works at Days Gone developer Bend.
teamLFG’s game is the incubation project that was spun out of Bungie amid significant layoffs last year. Following the Sony acquisition, Bungie reportedly repeatedly missed its financial targets with Destiny 2 on the wane, leading to roughly 100 employees being laid off in November 2023. A second round of layoffs followed in 2024, impacting another 220 people, or 17% of the studio’s workforce, with another 155 being integrated elsewhere in Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was at this time that this incubation project being spun off was announced.
Late last year, a former Bungie lawyer commented on announced improvements to embattled live service looter shooter Destiny 2, saying the role of parent company Sony in “forcing” through the changes was very much a good thing.
Since then, Bungie has fully revealed extraction shooter Marathon, and this week confirmed the roadmap for the future of Destiny 2. Bungie reportedly has no plans for Destiny 3 and has canceled a Destiny spinoff project known as Payback.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
