In shocking information, Sony has confirmed that Jade Raymond, founding father of first-party PlayStation studio Haven, has apparently left the corporate. Coincidentally, or maybe not, the studios upcoming title Fairgames is reported to have examined poorly simply weeks earlier than Raymond left.
Phrase of Raymond’s departure was damaged by the prince of gaming journalism, Mr. Jason Schreier of Bloomberg. Sony issued an announcement shortly after confirming the scenario.
“Jade Raymond has been an unimaginable associate and visionary power in founding Haven Studios,” PlayStation stated. “We’re deeply grateful for her management and contributions, and we want her all the most effective in her subsequent chapter.”
Marie-Eve Danis and Pierre-François Sapinski have been named as Haven’s new co-heads shifting ahead.
Haven was based in 2021 after Raymond left Google Stadia. Sony was revealed to be funding the staff’s first mission, which was later revealed in 2023 to be a brand new live-service recreation titled Fairgames. Sony then purchased Haven in 2022 for an undisclosed value.
In his article, Jason notes that whereas no particular motive was given for Raymond’s exit, Fairgames (which is outwardly dropping the $ on the finish of its title) went via a spherical of exterior testing just a few weeks in the past. In accordance with Jason, some individuals with information of the scenario advised him that some builders have been “involved with how the sport was obtained and its progress”.
It’s unclear whether or not this exterior check has something to do with Raymond’s choice to go away Haven and whether or not it was truly her choice and never a mandate from Sony instantly.
Fairgames was reportedly going to launch this yr, however the Bloomberg article claims it has been pushed again till subsequent Spring.
Raymond is among the trade’s most recognisable names, rising to prominence along with her producer position on the unique Murderer’s Creed after which engaged on a number of different entries within the sequence. Different credit embrace Managing Director on Far Cry 4, engaged on Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and her stint at Stadia. Arguably, although, Raymond hasn’t labored on something large or really thrilling in a very long time. Fairgames was seemingly going to be her large return, which is why it’s shocking that she has stepped away from the corporate she helped create with 5 different individuals.
So let’s speculate slightly. It could possibly be that underneath Sony’s purview, Fairgames is shaping up in another way than Raymond had envisioned. Whereas she was CEO, Sony is the one with the cash and who finally has full say on how Fairgames is made. That is the idea that makes essentially the most sense to me, personally, because it’s extremely uncommon to see a CEO step away from an organization they based and earlier than their first mission even will get launched.
It may be as a consequence of Sony’s push towards live-service and subsequent failures. Sony can be loopy to not at the very least try to enter the live-service area, and has discovered success with Helldivers 2, however Harmony was an enormous catastrophe, and so they’ve already cancelled most of their different live-service initiatives. Certainly, Fairgames is among the few remaining.
