Tencent has decided not to proceed with the Last Sentinel project at Lightspeed LA following a recent review. The studio laid off 80 developers as a result. A spokesperson said Lightspeed LA remains open and continues to build games.
Last Sentinel was revealed at the 2023 Game Awards as a sci-fi open-world action game developed by former Rockstar Games staff. Production started six years ago and had already cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
A playtest earlier this year reportedly performed poorly. Lightspeed LA received a final chance to improve the game before a review earlier this week led Tencent to abandon the project in its current form.
Bloomberg cited problems including unclear direction and management under project head Steve Martin. The studio was described as too small for the scale of a Grand Theft Auto-style title.
Lightspeed LA said some version of the project may still move forward. The decision follows Tencent's earlier closure of another studio, TiMi Montreal.