Firesprite, Sony's Liverpool-based game studio, spent 2017 and 2018 developing a Breaking Bad VR title for PlayStation VR that never reached players. New details uncovered by the gaming site MP1st reveal the scope of this abandoned project and expose a deeper pattern of costly cancellations that stretches the studio's operational history.
The game would have been similar to Stranger Things: The VR Experience, focusing on narrative experience and featuring some locations from the series, including Walter White's backyard and the New Mexico desert. The concept positioned players as participants in the show's world rather than offering a traditional gaming experience with complex mechanics.
Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan was directly involved in the project. In a 2022 podcast appearance, Gilligan confirmed that he had partnered with Sony for a Breaking Bad game, noting that significant effort had been put into development before it was cancelled. His explanation for the abandonment cuts to the heart of licensed game development's challenges. "Making a video game is damn hard," Gilligan said. "It takes years and millions of dollars, especially when you're trying to break new ground with VR."
The cancellation was not a surprise decision made lightly. Gilligan's team spent significant energy writing three or four stories for different video games, with a lot of people hours poured into that effort. His decision to walk away rather than release an inferior product reflects a principle shared by other quality-focused creators: avoid the fate of notoriously poor adaptations. Gilligan said he would not compromise on quality, noting that if you're going to make a video game, it can't be like 1983's E.T. adaptation, which is considered by some to be the worst game ever.
The Breaking Bad project was not Firesprite's only shelved ambition. The studio also developed a new IP in the sci-fi horror genre between 2018 and 2020, but it never made it past the prototype stage. Concept art discovered in a former Firesprite artist's portfolio shows the game was clearly in the same vein as Dead Space. Additionally, a battle royale take on the Twisted Metal franchise was also shelved.
These cancellations sit against a troubling backdrop at Firesprite itself. In February 2024, Eurogamer published an investigation finding the company had devolved into a chaotic work environment, with reported layoffs taking place at the studio as part of Sony's broader cuts. These problems compounded into a mass exodus of talent, including all but one of the studio's co-founders. Allegations were raised against new leadership of sexual discrimination and ageism, though Sony dismissed these claims as a "misunderstanding".
The studio remains known for PlayStation VR titles such as The Persistence and the 2023 title Horizon Call of the Mountain. Despite several cancelled projects, Firesprite is moving forward, with the team reportedly working on new games including Project Heartbreak and Project Pillar. For Breaking Bad fans, the VR experience remains unexplored. For the studio, it represents a reminder of ambition constrained by the brutal economics of game development.