Bad news for Lightspeed LA, the developers working on Last Sentinel, a sci-fi game set in a futuristic Tokyo which first garnered attention with a reveal trailer at the 2023 Game Awards. IGN reports that the Irvine-based studio has decided on a shift in developmental direction for its cyberpunk-inspired open-world action game in order to “deliver the experience players expect.” According to reporting in GamesBeat, the studio will lay off 80 members of staff, but says that it will remain open and that development on Last Sentinel will continue.
Lightspeed LA is the US-based subsidiary of Lightspeed Games, one of Tencent games’ numerous subsidiaries best known for its work developing mobile games including PUBG Mobile. Tencent opened Lightspeed LA in 2020, and in 2023 the studio debuted the trailer for Last Sentinel, billing the game as a AAA narrative experience for PC and console. In 2024, Lightspeed LA added a bit of video game star power to Last Sentinel, bringing on Troy Baker as the game’s performance director. However, according to a statement from Lightspeed shared with IGN, it seems that after internal review, Last Sentinel wasn’t living up to expectations, forcing the team to pivot and requiring layoffs. “We are treating affected team members with compassion and respect, offering comprehensive support and where possible the opportunity to transfer internally,” the studio wrote in its statement to IGN.
Other Tencent subsidiaries are having a tough time as their parent company seems to be slowly pulling back on some of its gaming investments worldwide. Earlier this year, TiMi Montreal shut down five years after it opened its doors and without releasing a single game. Back in 2023, Tencent also closed the LA-based Team Kaiju, shuttering its unannounced project as well. But while Tencent seems to be closing some doors, it’s opening other, much bigger doors by investing 1.25 billion dollars in Ubisoft, potentially paving the way for a possible acquisition of the embattled publisher in the future.