First-party PlayStation studio loses founder amid live service game rebrand

Sony has lost key talent at one of its more fringe-based first-party PlayStation studios.

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Given Concord's exceptional failure, it's fair to say that Sony's new live service initiative hasn't gone to plan. Following Concord, the company slashed its live service games roadmap while summarily cancelling online projects and laying off workers along the way.

Now another one of Sony's first-party live game studios is seeing some changes, with Haven Studios founder Jade Raymond leaving the group that she started. Sources tell Bloomberg's Jason Schreier that Raymond's exit came weeks after a playtest of Haven's live service shooter Fairgames. The studio was also reportedly concerned about Fairgames' general reception during playtesting.

Sony confirmed Raymond's departure in a statement to Bloomberg:

"Jade Raymond has been an incredible partner and visionary force in founding Haven Studios. We are deeply grateful for her leadership and contributions, and we wish her all the best in her next chapter."

Another interesting note: Haven's game was originally marketed as Fairgame$, but the name has changed to simply "Fairgames" without the dollar sign.

Sony and Haven had revealed Fairgames in May 2023 to mixed reception, with our own coverage noting that Sony's live games seem to lack cohesion with the PlayStation brand.

PlayStation's live game plan had originally hit a great stride with the release of Helldivers 2, but controversy soon marred the game's exceptional sales performance due to Sony's dreaded PSN requirement on PC (which was later reversed).

Sony's current live game plan remains unclear, but there are reports that the MMO masters at NCSoft are helping with a new Horizon online game.