Haven Interactive Studios' founder has left the company, potentially pointing to issues at the PlayStation's recent wave of live-service cancellations.

According to a report from Bloomberg (via VGC), producer Jade Raymond has left Haven Interactive Studios, which she founded in 2021. Her departure reportedly comes after an external Fairgame$ playtest, the from which has concerned developers at the studio. PlayStation did not give a reason for Raymond leaving Haven, but the publisher did say it is "committed to ing Haven Studios." Farigame$ appears to still be in active development.

Jade Raymond Leaves Studio She Founded

Raymond Is A Prominent Producer

Raymond's founding of Haven came after Google Stadia was shut down in 2022, where she held a vice president position in charge of creating exclusive content for the service. Raymond first rose to prominence in the gaming industry as a producer on early installments of the Assassin's Creed and Watch Dogs franchises at Ubisoft. She would later form EA's Motive Studio and oversee the now-defunct Visceral Games. 2018 saw her departure from Motive and arrival at Google.

Haven started as an independent developer, but courted investment from Sony Interactive Entertainment to create an original IP, what would eventually become Fairgame$. Just over a year after Haven's founding, SIE acquired Haven, bringing it under the PlayStation Studios umbrella. Raymond spent just over five years at Haven, and has now left before the studio shipped its first game.

Our Take: PlayStation Is Stubbornly Committed To Developing More Live-Service Games

Is Another Concord On The Way?

If Fairgame$ has not drastically altered course, it is still one of many live-service titles in development at PlayStation Studios. The live-service market is exceptionally volatile and difficult to break into, as PlayStation well knows after the PlayStation just announced teamLFG, a new studio working on a multiplayer game, indicating that despite many cancellations, the publisher is still seeking a hit.

Players have been concerned that PlayStation's focus on live-service games has taken focus away from the blockbuster single-player games the brand has built its reputation on. For instance, Naughty Dog had been teasing The Last of Us Online for years before it was canceled, reportedly over gameplay concerns raised by Bungie, which was tasked with consulting. Now there's worry that the same fate awaits Fairgame$. With Raymond's departure, and an apparently troublesome reception to Fairgame$'s playtest, there's worry that another PlayStation development studio could be folded.

Source: Bloomberg (via VGC)