Sony has announced a new studio joining the company under the PlayStation Studios banner. Dubbed teamLFG, the studio is comprised of developers from Destiny 2 developer Bungie. Along with this pedigree, teamLFG also includes developers from across the industry. The studio has been described by Sony Interactive Entertainment studio business group CEO Hermen Hulst as an “ambitious incubation project.”
teamLFG is based out of Bellevue, Washington in the US, and features developers from across the country as well as Canada through remote work. Developers from the studio have previously worked on renowned projects, including Halo, League of Legends, Fortnite, Rec Room, Roblox, and Destiny.
While teamLFG hasn’t yet announced what its first major project will be, it has provided a hint for what we can expect from the studio’s name. In the studio’s own words, the LFG in teamLFG is a classic gaming acronym that stands for “Looking for Group”. As such, the studio will likely be more focused on multiplayer titles.
“We are driven by a mission to create games where players can find friendship, community, and belonging,” wrote the studio. “We want our players to feel excited when they log on to discover their teammates already hanging out online. We want our players to recognize familiar names and to make myths and memes out of each other. We want our players to love remembering that one time where they pulled off That Play that changed the whole story of the match. As we say on the team – dat’s da good stuff.”
teamLFG has also confirmed that it will be working on a multiplayer project of some kind with action-focused gameplay. Its development process will also be quite different from what we usually see in the AAA gaming market, with the studio hoping to involve players in the development process of its games thanks to early access playtests and beta releases.
The first game by teamLFG has been described as a team-based action game that draws inspiration from a host of other genres, including fighting games, platformers, life sims, MOBAs, and curiously enough, frog-type games. The world that the new game takes place in has been described as a lighthearded, comedic one set in a science-fantasy universe.
“We are passionate about exceptional action-based gameplay and moment-to-moment game feel,” wrote the studio on its official website. “We will make immersive and richly social multiplayer worlds propelled by action games that players can learn, play and master for countless hours.”
The official website for teamLFG currently lists a host of vacancies, hoping to attract developers to fill out various roles required for game development, including a production lead, a production director, a lead tech artist, a UX/UI design lead, a senior gameplay engineering lead, a senior engineer that would be responsible for the build system, and a principal multiplayer systems designer. All of these listings are open to US-based developers, albeit with remote work.
According to its LinkedIn profile, teamLFG is currently a small company, with between 11 and 50 developers in its employ. The team will likely grow, however, as we get closer to getting more details about the studio’s debut game.