Tencent has ended development of Last Sentinel, a cyberpunk open-world crime game that was expected to compete with Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto, according to Bloomberg News. Developed by Lightspeed LA for more than six years, the project reportedly received more than $300 million in funding.
Although Tencent has denied reports that Last Sentinel has been canceled, Bloomberg says the project has effectively been shut down. Around 80 employees at Lightspeed LA were laid off this week, with the studio saying the decision came after internal reviews and playtesting led to a change in the studio’s creative and development plans.
The shutdown was not entirely unexpected. Although Last Sentinel was announced with a cinematic trailer at The Game Awards 2023, Lightspeed LA never shared gameplay publicly despite years of development. Reports indicate that internal testing in early 2026 generated mostly negative feedback, contributing to the project’s cancellation.
The report says development was affected by several ongoing issues. Insiders characterized the studio’s leadership as divisive, and industry veterans argued that a team of only a few hundred developers faced a difficult challenge in trying to build a game on the same level as Grand Theft Auto.
Lightspeed LA will continue operating despite the cancellation. The remaining team has been reassigned to an unannounced open-world project led by creative director Todd Papy, with some of Last Sentinel’s code and gameplay features potentially being carried over into the new game or other Tencent projects.
Founded in 2020, Lightspeed LA was led by former Rockstar San Diego chief Steve Martin. The studio’s mission was to develop an open-world sandbox game starring a female protagonist and built around vehicle theft, inviting comparisons to Grand Theft Auto, Saints Row, Cyberpunk 2077, and Watch Dogs 2.
The problems at Lightspeed LA add to a growing list of challenges facing Tencent-backed studios in North America that were established to build AAA games for Western players. Earlier this year, TiMi Montreal shut down after five years without releasing an original title, while Los Angeles-based Team Kaiju closed in 2023 following the cancellation of an unannounced project.
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