On Thursday, May 15, mood is not at the party in Haven Studios. For this study that has belonged to Sony since 2022, dozens of developers work in an exclusivity of PlayStation 5 (also expected on PC) baptized Fairgame $.
Behind this name hides a very ambitious game: “A fresh and modern version of the robbery,” writes PlayStation during the official announcement of the title in May 2023. Clearly, it is a large -budget game, playable with several, in which players will have to use different kinds of characters when joining a clandestine movement destined to “fly the ultra ultron” and “recidivism.”
A project already described as “infernal”
But from his announcement two years ago, almost until the day, the game entered the silence of the total radio, simply pushed by the surprise, last week, of the founder of the headquarters in Montreal, Jade Raymond. It is known that this old Ubisoft has produced Assassin’s Creed and his suite between 2007 and 2009, as well as Splinter Cell Blacklist. It is better known by the players for not having launched a single game in ten years, leaving Ubisoft to motivate (an electronic arts study), then Stadia, the Google transmission platform that closed its doors.
With his departure from Haven, therefore, it is a new blow to this 49 -year -old designer, but that hardly surprises employees and former employees interviewed by Tech & Co., several of them trust that I have never crossed Jade Raymond: “In recent months, he was completely absent,” says a developer present since the beginning of the Haven adventure. “It is as if it were disconnected from the reality of development.”
A former employee, who since then has joined another editor, describes above all a “badly born” project, promoted to the range of a great budget game “when we were not enough to manage such a project.”
A project described as “infernal” and “that does not know where it goes” according to two employees who are still in office.
The “shame” of being compared to Concord
Fairgame $ Above all, Sony’s successive failures in the field of “service games” have been submitted, these games that must bring long -term money with the help of regular updates. Two developers still remember the very negative comments received after the game announced in 2023: “We had the impression of having been considered responsible for the elections taken by PlayStation, but also failures.”
Comments on the official PlayStation blog were disabled, but on YouTube, the tone is established. Many players regularly make fun of the game under the only trailer, referring to ConcordGame whose useful life did not exceed 12 days after its catastrophic launch in the summer of 2024.
An industrial catastrophe that also led to the closing of its developer, Firewalk Studios and the cancellation of a review.
The fear of closing is in all the minds in Haven Studios: “We have been pointing to an excursion in 2026, but from the official announcement, we cannot say that things have evolved in the right direction,” explains an employee who arrived two years ago.
Worse, the atmosphere in Haven is far from being positive: “No one talks about Fairgame $ Except to say evil on social networks, this has an impact on the morals of the teams. We have some shame. “
Several developers have also left the X platform, some have been vilified, insulted or even “hunted” by people who do not agree with the new PlayStation policy.
“I don’t want my CV to be contaminated”
“I put my linkedin private so as not to see that I am in Haven or what I work Fairgame $“Let an employee go, who also talks about stopping the rest in case the project does not work.
A former employee, questioned by Tech & Co, explains that he left Haven six months ago for these reasons: “I do not want my CV to be affected by a failure ConcordAnd that’s why I left. When I left my publication, Fairgame $ I was still very far from a game that could leave decently in 2026, I doubt that this is still the case today, “he believes.
All eyes are now fascinated in Marie-Eve Danis and Pierre-François Sapinski, who assumed the position of Haven after Jade Raymond’s departure. These two Ubisoft students know well the gender of the service game, but that will be enough to save Fairgame $ Abyss? Nothing is less safe.
Contacted by Tech & co and confronted with employee testimonies, Sony mature in communication praising the work done so far: “Jade Raymond has been an incredible partner and a visionary force at the Haven Studios Foundation.” The Japanese company explains that it is “deeply grateful for its leadership and contributions, and we wish him the best for the rest of his adventure.”
Sony adds to be “committed” to “support Haven Studios” with his two new chiefs of thought.
Source: BFM TV
