Announced in May 2025, the 40-person teamLFG are the newest addition to PS Studios. LFG stands for 'looking for group' as they create games where players can find friendship and community. While the name foreshadows their debut game, LFG's unique history must be discussed first because they aren't a new studio - they were an incubation team within Bungie for years.
As part of Bungie, LFG worked on Destiny and Halo, but their experience also extends to non-shooter live-services like League of Legends and Roblox. This history can be seen all over their project 'Gummy Bears' - a team-based action game inspired by fighters, MOBAs, platformers and sims. It's also set in a science-fantasy world, but has a light-hearted, comedic tone to distinguish itself from Destiny.
When Gummy Bears was in internal incubation, playtest reception was more positive than Bungie's Marathon and word spread throughout Sony. So in 2024, when Bungie's financial issues meant all options were on the table for Sony to extract value, LFG was brought directly into PS Studios where they'd have full control. LFG titles now have no onus to come to Xbox or Nintendo, whereas Bungie is multiplatform.
Little has been said about Gummy Bears, but gameplay details did leak. It's a team-based PvP MOBA with many modes and classes. GB is also influenced by Smash Bros to differentiate from others MOBAs, like players falling off maps and percentage-based damage. To appeal to a younger audience than Destiny, friends can also 'express their identity' in a 'cozy vibe'.
Out of Sony's upcoming live-service games, I'm more optimistic about Gummy Bears than most - it's very telling that with all of Bungie's current turmoil, LFG showed enough promise for Sony to extract them from a bad situation and directly nurture GB's potential.
GB is also the only Smash Bros type game on PS5, instead of the saturated shooter-focused genre Fairgames/Marathon are in. Its lighter tone could also be a major selling point - similar to the virality Helldivers 2's managed democracy achieved. Finally, GB launches after the aforementioned games, which gives Sony plenty of data to see what went right/wrong.
Nonetheless, GB is still years away, and with the volatility of live-service, its commercial and/or critical success can still go either way. Hopefully, LFG keep their word of many playtests - it's the best barometer of what an increasingly pessimistic hardcore PS5 base thinks of yet another GaaS.
Genre: Team-Based Action
Release Date: Unreleased
Days Since Their Last Game: N/A
Metacritic Score: N/A