The Ambitious Open-World Cyberpunk Action Game Troy Baker Was Working On Gets Hit With Mass Layoff - Kotaku

What the report says

Kotaku reports that Lightspeed LA, the Irvine-based studio developing the cyberpunk open-world action game Last Sentinel, is making a major change in the project’s direction after an internal review. The game, set in a futuristic version of Tokyo, was first shown at The Game Awards in 2023 and had been presented as a high-end narrative title for PC and consoles.

Citing IGN and GamesBeat, Kotaku says the studio plans to cut 80 jobs while continuing development on Last Sentinel. Lightspeed LA said the shift is intended to help the team deliver the kind of experience players are expecting. In a statement shared with IGN, the studio said affected workers would receive support and, where feasible, chances to move elsewhere internally.

Lightspeed LA is the U.S. arm of Lightspeed Games, a Tencent-owned group known for work on mobile titles including PUBG Mobile. Tencent launched the Los Angeles-area studio in 2020. Last Sentinel also drew attention in 2024 when actor and game performer Troy Baker joined the project as performance director.

The move adds to a broader pattern of turbulence among some Tencent-linked game studios. Kotaku notes that TiMi Montreal closed earlier this year without releasing a game, and Tencent shut down the Los Angeles-based Team Kaiju in 2023 along with its unannounced project. At the same time, Tencent has continued making large strategic investments, including a reported $1.25 billion investment connected to Ubisoft, underscoring a mixed period of cutbacks and expansion across its gaming interests.