Lightspeed LA Lays Off Staff as Last Sentinel Changes Direction

Tencent-owned Lightspeed LA has laid off staff while reworking the creative and development direction of Last Sentinel, its debut game. Bloomberg reports that 80 employees were affected.

In a statement, the Irvine, California studio said some roles were impacted after “extensive internal reviews and play-testing.” Lightspeed LA said it remains open and “continues to build games,” and that affected workers are being offered support and, where possible, internal transfer options.

Last Sentinel was announced at The Game Awards in 2023. The game has reportedly been in production for around six years, with Bloomberg saying it had been delayed multiple times and carried a budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The situation around the game’s future is still not completely clear. Bloomberg reports the layoffs followed Tencent allegedly deciding not to move forward with the project. Lightspeed LA, however, has said it will share development updates when ready, and the studio has not announced a release date for Last Sentinel.

Lightspeed LA was founded in 2020 and is part of Shenzhen-based Lightspeed Studios. The developer was led at launch by industry veteran Steve Martin and was positioned as Tencent’s major North American push into big-budget console and PC development.