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 other 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 future live-service games, I'm more optimistic about Gummy Bears than most. It's telling that with all of Bungie's current turmoil, LFG showed enough promise for Sony to extract them to directly nurture GB's potential. GB is also the only Smash Bros type game on PS5, instead of the saturated shooter genre Fairgames/Marathon are in. Finally, GB launches after these games, which gives Sony plenty of data to see what went right/wrong.
Nonetheless, GB is 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 all segments of the PS5 base think of that specific live-service.
Genre: Team-Based Action
Release Date: Unreleased
Days Since Their Last Game: N/A
Metacritic Score: N/A