Sony hasn't cancelled Fairgames live service shooter despite reports

Sony hasn't actually canceled Haven's live service game Fairgames--at least not that we're aware of.

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In the latest episode of his Q&A show Pachter Factor, securities analyst and longtime gaming figure Michael Pachter mentioned that Sony had scrapped another live service game. This time it was Fairgames, the new game from Haven Studios, that had purportedly been canceled. This made headlines because just months ago, Haven Studios founder Jade Raymond left the group, prompting discussions on Fairgames' cancellation.

Now it's been revealed that Pachter was speaking off the cuff, which is typical for his webshow. Pachter delivered a statement to YouTuber and former IGN journalist Destin Legarie, admitting that he doesn't have inside knowledge on Fairgames: "I misspoke, I said Jade was let go, and assumed it was cancelled. I have no info on the game at all. [...] I truly don't know."

Sony themselves have not stepped in to officially clarify the status of specific live titles like Fairgames, but Raymond's departure certainly signalled some internal problems. Sony executive management has also acknowledged that there are "many issues" with the current PlayStation live game strategy, which originally called for a whopping 12 live service games released by March 2026.

Reports indicate that Jade Raymond left the studio weeks after Fairgames essentially failed an internal playtest. Failing these reviews can have big consequences, leading to costly delays that can stress development teams (and business margins) even harder.

For example, Bungie's Marathon live game was delayedafter it failed one such review. For Bungie, this has much more dire consequences as Bungie is now slowly being absorbed into the PlayStation Studios label after failing to meet revenue targets.

While official comms are light, from the outside it doesn't look like Haven nor its game have been shut down. Haven Studios is currently hiring for six positionsacross the board, and the studio's LinkedIn page says that there are some 253 people employed and/or associated with the Montreal-based company.

Fairgames was revealed in 2023, and shortly after, I said that Sony's new live games (which then consisted of Marathon, Concord, and Fairgames) lack cohesion or connection to the PlayStation brand. It's unclear how Sony feels about Haven's first-person shooter.