PlayStation London Studio, known best for developing the PlayStation 4 first-person shooter Blood & Truth and the classic PlayStation 2 action-adventure sandbox game The Getaway, has announced a pivot when it comes to its next game. Rather than focusing on PlayStation VR or heavily utilizing peripherals or gimmicks as they’ve done in the past, London Studio has announced a more traditional title this time around. Still unnamed, it will be an online co-op combat game set in a fantastical version of the British capital.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, co-studio head Stuart Whyte expressed nothing but excitement for the upcoming title. “With this project, we really wanted to explore some new avenues and set ourselves some new challenges. We definitely wanted to try something a little bit different, and I think this new project really channels our ‘brave’ value and allows us to push ourselves on the ‘curious’ front, too. It’s an exciting future, it really is,” he said.
Whyte also mentioned that while the game won’t be a VR title, it will still utilize London Studio’s Soho Engine. “This is an engine that was built from the ground up for this generation of hardware and the needs of the game that we’re making. It’s designed to take full advantage of the PS5,” he explained.
London Studio deciding to focus on an online title isn’t entirely surprising. Earlier this year, PlayStation claimed to have 12 live service titles in development, all expected to release by March 2026. Sony has estimated that over half of its investment into PlayStation will be live-service-focused by 2025. Currently, The Last of Us Multiplayer and a rumored Twisted Metal project are in the works towards this inevitable end.
“Even though we’re not working on something that uses all different bits of peripherals, it is still about taking that DNA of innovation and putting it into any game concept,” said co-studio head Tara Saunders. “[In our concept art] you’re seeing a take on a modern fantasy London. Our overarching theme is about bringing fantastical and magical elements and intersecting that with familiar worlds, and you don’t get much more familiar to us than London.”
The idea for the game came from the entirety of the team, with ample inspiration coming from Guerrilla Games. “We were fascinated about how they went from Killzone to Horizon: Zero Dawn, and this was the exact process they went through,” Whyte said.
London Studio turned 20 this year. Saunders has been there since the beginning, while Whyte is a much newer addition to the team. The studio was named at this year’s GamesIndustry.biz Best Places to Work Awards.
“It’s more true than ever that great games are made by great teams, which are made up of great people. It’s all about caring for the people. And the Best Places To Work Awards really helps shine a light on the progress we’ve made overall,” Whyte said.
