Industry veteran Jade Raymond founded Haven Studios in 2021, and it was acquired by PlayStation in 2022. Now, just a few years later, and before the team has released its first game, an online heist shooter named Fairgames, Raymond has exited the company.
Bloomberg broke the news, revealing PlayStation leadership didn’t give Haven staff a reason for her departure, but notes that it occurred several weeks after an external test of Fairgames. The publication’s sources say some developers at Haven “were concerned about how the game was received and its progress.”
A lot is riding on Fairgames as part of PlayStation’s push for live-service games. Though many have since been delayed or canceled in development, PlayStation is looking for another hit like Helldivers 2, but has stumbled with recent releases like Concord, which shut down less than two weeks after its launch, and a lukewarm reception to Bungie’s upcoming Marathon, which is now in hot water as a result of plagiarized art.
“Jade Raymond has been an incredible partner and visionary force in founding Haven Studios,” a PlayStation spokesperson told Bloomberg. “We are deeply grateful for her leadership and contributions, and we wish her all the best in her next chapter.”
“[PlayStation is] committed to supporting Haven Studios and excited to continue the journey” with the new studio co-heads, Marie Eve Danis and Pierre-François Sapinski.
Raymond previously spent a decade at Ubisoft as a producer for the early Assassin’s Creed games before joining EA in 2015 as the head of Motive Studios. She left Motive in 2018 to join the now-defunct Google Stadia as head of Stadia Games and Entertainment. Following her stint at Google, Raymond created Haven in 2021. Several Stadia executives followed her there, and it was revealed that same year, Haven was already working on a new PlayStation-exclusive game. Roughly a year later, in 2022, PlayStation acquired Haven, and now, Raymond is moving on to something else.
For more, read about Fairgames here.
