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Operating under the umbrella of Tencent's Lightspeed & Quantum subsidiary, Lightspeed Los Angeles was opened specifically to develop and deliver top-end AAA experiences using localized veteran talent. Though there hasn't been any news on what these games might be, the first vague hints on the nature of the company's current project have now been dropped.
According to a few of its recent job listings, Lightspeed LA may be working on a premium open-world action game with cinematic gameplay. The studio is led by Steve Martin, who previously worked on GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, and had been founded by Tencent back in 2020, with the earliest announcements including hints that its first project would, indeed, be an AAA open-world production.
Specifically, Lightspeed LA is now looking to fill the full-time positions of Senior Environment Artist and Senior Character Concept Artist. According to the listings, the studio is working on an entirely new, never-before-seen intellectual property that will, to some extent, rely on vehicles. None of this is particularly noteworthy on its own, though it does paint the rough outline of the type of open-world players ought to expect, and the potential for Lightspeed to take open-world games to the next step.
Across the two listings, there are references to vehicles, prop-work, and environmental design. Lightspeed is looking for long-time industry professionals that will help shape its new IP into existence, which may suggest that the project is in the very early stages of pre-production or production at this time. This piece of information fits the publisher's desire to enlist established talent, as shown by Tencent's recent acquisition of Turtle Rock Studios.
As of right now, there's virtually no information available on what the studio's first project might be, though the fact remains that it is bound to be an AAA open-world game set in an entirely new universe. Historically, Tencent has been very hands-off with how it approaches its game industry investments. Just recently, the publisher greenlit a massive expansion of Playtonic Games, the developer of 3D platformer Yooka-Laylee. The company is clearly attempting to diversify as much as possible, hedging its bets in almost every gaming niche on the market.
Aside from establishing all-new studios, Tencent has also been on an acquisition spree that has substantially boosted its portfolio of games, intellectual properties, and developers, one of the most prominent of which is the developer of Alan Wake 2, Remedy Entertainment. As of right now, the publishing company also owns Klei Entertainment, Fatshark Games, Yager Entertainment, and a number of other established game developers, giving Tencent a formidable foothold in the gaming industry.