For many longtime PlayStation fans, Twisted Metal is a beloved franchise. Originally created by David Jaffe, the series is essentially a vehicular combat style game, pitting all sorts of outrageous characters and cars against one another using weapons to see who can be the last one standing. The series was incredibly popular in the late 90s and early 2000s, but has had little presence since it's last release on the PlayStation 3 back in 2012.
It's clear that the IP is still important to Sony as the company is currently working on a TV adaptation of the popular game series. The announcement was made back in 2019, but recently, more news has started to appear online including the casting of Anthony Mackie playing a character named John Doe. According to the latest rumors, Sony appears to be positioning a new game in the long running series to arrive sometime around the launch date of the TV show sometime in 2023.
According to industry sources, Sony has handed its Twisted Metal franchise over to Lucid Games, who earlier this year released its own take on the vehicular combat genre with Destruction All-Stars. The development is in the early stages and it appears to be centered around a similar free to play model instead of a full priced premium title. The move makes sense, aligning with previous Sony comments about increasing it's live service foothold, something which Destruction All-Stars handled well after transitioning from a full priced game, to one that instead launched on PlayStation Plus.
The fit between Lucid and Twisted Metal looks like a good one on paper, not just because of the developer's recent work with Destruction All-Stars. Even though that game may not have found the large fanbase many were hoping for, Lucid's track record includes a number of fan favorite games like Geometry Wars. In fact, Lucid was founded in the wake of Activision closing down Bizarre Creations, a studio known for racing titles like Project Gotham Racing as well as Blur, a game which mixed Mario Kart style combat with arcade style racing.
While rumors of a Twisted Metal revival has been picking up steam, one person who doesn't seem to be quite on board yet is the original creator, David Jaffe. When asked about the rumors, Jaffe admitted that he's heard nothing about a new Twisted Metal and would feel hurt if he wasn't at least contacted even if he wasn't going to be involved. In addition, he went on to say that he doesn't think Lucid would be a good fit considering what he assumes was a financial disappointment and poor reception from Destruction All-Stars.
Source: Video Games Chronicle