The destiny of PlayStation’s upcoming live-service recreation Fairgames is as soon as once more below scrutiny as its artistic director, Daniel Drapeau, has confirmed he has left Haven Studios to hitch Warner Bros. Video games Montreal.
It is the second high-profile exit of the summer season, with studio founder Jade Raymond additionally exiting again in Could, a number of weeks after an exterior playtest reportedly met a lukewarm response.
“As of this week, I joined WB Video games Montreal Inc. as artistic director,” Drapeau introduced in a LinkedIn post. “I can not wait to start out this glorious journey with all the good individuals right here on the studio. I additionally need to notably thank Yves Lachance, Logan A. Lesage, and Bryan Theberge for his or her belief and help all through the method. Now, let’s do that!”
The information follows a rocky time for the sport’s improvement, and incorrect trade hypothesis surrounding its future. Final month, analyst Michael Pachter wrongly claimed the sport had been canceled, although was later pressured to walk back his statement and admit he had “no data on the sport in any respect.”
Neither Haven nor Sony have commented publicly on Drapeau’s departure.
Regardless, the information will hardly restore confidence in PlayStation’s embattled reside service ambitions. Sony introduced plans in February 2022 to launch greater than 10 reside service video games by March 2026, later saying the push would carry video games of various genres to completely different audiences. It spent huge on studio buyouts as a part of the drive, bringing in Future developer Bungie, the now shuttered Firewalk Studios, and, after all, Haven Studios.
Firewalk, you may keep in mind, was the studio behind Harmony, one of many greatest disasters in PlayStation historical past. Simply a few weeks after it launched to eye-wateringly low participant numbers, Sony determined to kill the sport completely and shortly thereafter shut down its improvement studio.
The Harmony flop got here after Sony had already canceled Naughty Canine’s The Final of Us multiplayer recreation. And earlier this yr, Sony reportedly canceled two unannounced live-service video games, one a God of Battle title in improvement at Bluepoint, the opposite within the works at Days Gone developer Bend.
On the flip aspect, Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2 has been a breakout hit, and have become the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios recreation of all time with 12 million copies bought in simply 12 weeks.
Fairgames — stylized as Fairgame$ — is described as “a aggressive trendy heist recreation the place you staff as much as break into unique places and steal the cargo.” The twist is that you just not solely must outsmart guards and safety techniques, however you additionally must compete in opposition to different groups, too. There isn’t any phrase but on when it’s going to launch.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, in addition to a critic, columnist, and advisor with 15+ years expertise working with a number of the world’s greatest gaming websites and publications. She’s additionally a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually Excessive Chaos. Discover her at BlueSky.