Jade Raymond has left Haven Studios, the Sony-owned developer behind on-line multiplayer shooter Fairgames, with the sport reportedly delayed following an exterior take a look at in yet one more blow to PlayStation’s stay service ambition.
Based on Bloomberg, Raymond exited the corporate she based a number of weeks after an exterior take a look at of Fairgames apparently didn’t go down properly. The sport was due out fall 2025 however is now delayed to spring 2026.
As Bloomberg put it:
PlayStation management didn’t give Haven workers a motive for her departure, nevertheless it got here a number of weeks after an exterior take a look at of Haven’s first sport, the net shooter Fairgames, in accordance with individuals with information of the matter. Some builders at Haven had been involved about how the sport was obtained and its progress, mentioned the individuals, who requested to not be recognized as a result of they aren’t approved to talk publicly.
Sony is sticking with Haven and Fairgames for now, with new co-studio heads Marie-Eve Danis and Pierre-François Sapinski in place.
It’s but extra hassle for Sony’s embattled stay service ambition, which now seems to be in full retreat. Whereas Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2 was a breakout hit, changing into the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios sport of all time with 12 million copies offered in simply 12 weeks, Sony’s different stay service video games had been both canceled or suffered disastrous launches.
Certainly, Sony’s Harmony is without doubt one of the largest online game disasters in PlayStation historical past, lasting simply a few weeks earlier than it was introduced offline amid eye-wateringly low participant numbers. Sony later determined to kill the sport solely and shut its developer.
The Harmony flop got here after Sony had already canceled Naughty Canine’s The Final of Us multiplayer sport. And earlier this 12 months, Sony reportedly canceled two unannounced stay service video games, one a God of Conflict title in growth at Bluepoint, the opposite within the works at Days Gone developer Bend.
Sony introduced plans in February 2022 to launch greater than 10 stay service video games by March 2026, later saying the push would deliver video games of various genres to totally different audiences. It spent massive on studio buyouts as a part of the drive, bringing in Future developer Bungie, Jade Raymond’s Haven Studios, and the now shuttered Firewalk Studios.
However in 2023, Sony president Hiroki Totoki mentioned the corporate was reviewing the 12 stay service PlayStation video games it had within the works, and dedicated to launching solely six of them by the tip of monetary 12 months 2025, which means by the tip of March 2026. Totoki mentioned Sony was nonetheless engaged on when the opposite six stay service video games would come out, including: “It is not that we keep on with sure titles, however for the avid gamers high quality ought to be crucial.”
Bungie continues to be flying the stay service flag, with Future 2 ongoing and the in-development Marathon set to launch totally later this 12 months. Earlier this month, Sony introduced a brand new PlayStation studio known as teamLFG and teased its debut sport, which is a stay service incubation undertaking. Guerrilla’s Horizon multiplayer sport can be in growth.
Wesley is the UK Information Editor for IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You’ll be able to attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.