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 aren't actually a new studio - they spent years operating as an internal incubation team within Bungie.
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 forced Sony to look for ways to extract value, LFG were 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 GB, 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 itself from other MOBAs, such as percentage-based damage and falling off stages. To appeal to a younger audience than Destiny, friends can also 'express their identity' in a 'cozy vibe'.
Out of Sony's future live-service games, I'm more optimistic about GB than most. It's telling that despite Bungie's current turmoil, LFG showed enough promise for Sony to extract them and directly nurture GB's potential. GB is also the only Smash Bros type game on PS5, instead of the saturated shooter genre titles like 4:Loop and Marathon are in. Finally, GB launches after these games, which gives Sony plenty of data to see what went right or wrong.
Nonetheless, GB is years away, and with the volatility of live services, 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 all segments of the PS5 base think of that specific live-service.
Genre: Live-Service MOBA, Action
Release Date: TBD
Days Since Their Last Game: N/A
Metacritic Score: N/A