Jade Raymond has departed Haven Studios, the Sony-owned studio developing the online multiplayer shooter Fairgames, in what appears to be another setback for PlayStation’s live service strategy. The news comes as the game's release has reportedly been pushed back following an external test that didn't go well.
According to Bloomberg, Raymond left the company she founded several weeks after Fairgames underwent an external playtest that received lackluster feedback. Originally slated for a fall 2025 launch, the title is now delayed until spring 2026.
As noted by sources cited in the report:
PlayStation leadership did not provide Haven staff with a specific reason for her departure, but it occurred several weeks after the external test of Fairgames. Some developers expressed concerns about how the game was received and its overall development progress. These individuals requested anonymity due to not being authorized to speak publicly.
Despite the change in leadership, Sony remains committed to Haven Studios and the Fairgames project. New co-studio heads Marie-Eve Danis and Pierre-François Sapinski have stepped into leadership roles to guide development moving forward.
This latest development adds to a growing list of challenges for Sony’s live service ambitions, which appear to be scaling back significantly. While *Helldivers 2* from Arrowhead Games became a massive success—selling 12 million copies within 12 weeks—many of Sony’s other live service titles have either launched poorly or were canceled outright.The collapse of Concord stands out as one of the most infamous failures in PlayStation history. The game shut down just weeks after launch due to extremely low player engagement. Shortly afterward, Sony decided to fully cancel the title and close its developer.
This followed the cancellation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us multiplayer spinoff, and earlier this year, Sony reportedly shelved two unannounced live service projects, including a God of War title under development at Bluepoint Games and another in early stages at Bend Studio, known for Days Gone.
In February 2022, Sony unveiled an aggressive plan to release more than ten live service games by March 2026, aiming to reach diverse audiences across multiple genres. As part of this initiative, the company acquired several studios, including Bungie, Jade Raymond’s Haven Studios, and Firewalk Studios before its eventual closure.
However, by 2023, Sony president Hiroki Totoki announced a strategic review of the 12 live service titles then in development. The company scaled back its commitment, targeting only six launches by the end of the fiscal year 2025 (March 2026). Totoki emphasized that quality would remain the top priority, stating: "It's not that we stick to certain titles, but for the gamers, quality should be the most important.”
Currently, Bungie continues to lead the live service charge with Destiny 2 still active and the upcoming Marathon scheduled for full release later this year. Recently, Sony also announced a new internal studio called teamLFG, teasing its first live service project currently in incubation. Meanwhile, Guerrilla Games is progressing on its Horizon-branded multiplayer title, signaling that while slowed, Sony hasn’t abandoned the live service model entirely.
