The first-party PlayStation studio Firesprite has been behind some of the platform’s biggest VR titles, such as The Persistence and the 2023 spin-off Horizon Call of the Mountain. However, over the last few years, the developer has faced a series of setbacks, including a round of layoffs in 2024 that resulted in cancellations. One of these was a battle royale take on the Twisted Metal franchise, as well as another game that was scrapped around the same time.
But these two entries aren’t the only ones that the studio has shelved in the past, as we have uncovered two projects that were unknowingly in the works by the studio, including one based on the widely known TV series Breaking Bad.
Firesprite’s Breaking Bad VR Experience and Sci-Fi Projects
Through a small investigation, we discovered that Firesprite was developing a Breaking Bad VR title for the PSVR around 2017 and 2018. While the name carries a lot of weight, the best way to describe it wouldn’t be a traditional game, but rather a narrative “experience.” This would have been similar to early PlayStation VR games like Stranger Things: The VR Experience, short-length titles mainly focused on cinematic stories.
The production would have featured several iconic locations from the series, such as Walter White’s backyard and the New Mexico desert, so it’s safe to assume players would have stepped into the meth-cooking chemistry teacher shoes.
In fact, this isn’t the first time this game has been mentioned. Variety reported in 2017 that series creator Vince Gilligan was collaborating with Sony Interactive Entertainment on a VR title, but the specific studio behind the work remained a mystery until now. From what we could gather, the project would be cancelled just a year after that report.
The last time we would hear about the collaboration was in 2022, when Gilligan first acknowledged the existence of the initiative and revealed that it was ultimately canceled despite a significant amount of effort being put into it.
As Gilligan put it:
Making a video game is damn hard. It takes years and millions of dollars, especially when you’re trying to break new ground with VR. It never came to fruition though, which is a shame.
Another project developed after Firesprite stopped working on Breaking Bad also never saw the light of day. It was a new IP in the sci-fi horror genre, worked on between 2018 and 2020, but it never made it past the prototype stage.
We discovered a few pieces of concept art for this title in the portfolio of a former Firesprite artist. Based on those images, the game was clearly in the same vein as Dead Space. The illustrations feature intense body horror and futuristic elements that would feel right at home in a dark sci-fi setting.
Some people might find similarities between these concepts and Firesprite’s previous work, The Persistence, since both share a sci-fi horror setting, which could lead some to believe this was a scrapped sequel. However, that is unlikely, as the artist who worked on the project described it as a completely new IP.
While many projects like these have been shelved, the studio has been busy with several other new titles for some time. One of the most talked about is Project Heartbreak. This codename first leaked back in 2022 and is widely rumored to be a sequel to the hit horror game Until Dawn. Reports suggest it is a narrative-driven horror game featuring a female lead, possibly set on an island.
Another recently discovered title is Project Pillar, a codename spotted in Firesprite’s job listings. We don’t know much about this one yet, other than the fact that, like Heartbreak, it’s being developed using Unreal Engine 5.
So with all of this, it is clear that the several canceled projects haven’t slowed the studio down.
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