Tencent pulls the plug on GTA rival Last Sentinel after spending $300 million over six years

Tencent has reportedly canceled its cyberpunk open-world crime game, Last Sentinel, after investing $300 million over six years of development. The game, which was intended to compete with Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto, was created by Tencent's Lightspeed LA studio. Bloomberg News claims that around 80 developers were laid off this week, with Lightspeed LA confirming the layoffs due to a shift in creative and development direction following extensive internal reviews and play-testing.

However, Tencent denies the cancellation rumors. The game, which was first unveiled at The Game Awards in 2023 with a flashy teaser, had not shown any public gameplay after six years. Early internal testing in early 2026 reportedly received mostly negative feedback. Industry experts believe the team of a few hundred developers was unlikely to create a worthy GTA competitor.

Despite the cancellation, Lightspeed LA continues to operate, with its remaining staff being reassigned to an undisclosed open-world project led by creative director Todd Papy. Some of Last Sentinel's code and gameplay elements may be repurposed in future Tencent projects. This is not the first time a Tencent-backed North American studio has faced issues; TiMi Montreal closed earlier this year after five years of operation without releasing an original game, and Team Kaiju shut down in 2023 after canceling an unannounced project.