"Sony's Live Service Struggles Persist: PlayStation Exec Jade Raymond Leaves Fairgames Developer Post-External Test Concerns"

Jade Raymond has departed Haven Studios, the Sony-owned studio behind the online multiplayer shooter Fairgames, marking yet another setback for PlayStation’s live service ambitions. The news follows reports that an external test of the game didn't go well, leading to a delay in its release from fall 2025 to spring 2026.

As reported by Bloomberg, Raymond left the company she founded several weeks after the underwhelming external test. While PlayStation leadership did not provide specific reasons for her departure to Haven staff, internal concerns reportedly surrounded how the game was received and its overall development progress. The sources requested anonymity due to lack of public speaking authorization.

Despite the leadership change, Sony remains committed to Haven Studios and the Fairgames project. Leadership has been transitioned to new co-studio heads Marie-Eve Danis and Pierre-François Sapinski.

This latest development adds to the growing list of challenges facing Sony’s live service strategy, which now appears to be undergoing significant recalibration. While Arrowhead Game Studios' Helldivers 2 emerged as a major success—selling 12 million copies in just 12 weeks—many of Sony’s other live service titles have either been canceled or launched poorly.

The most notable failure is Concord, which became one of the biggest flops in PlayStation history. It was taken offline shortly after launch due to extremely low player numbers and was ultimately canceled, with its developer shuttered soon after.

Prior to that, Sony scrapped Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us multiplayer title. Earlier this year, it also [ttpp] reportedly canceled two unannounced live service games—one being a God of War title at Bluepoint Games and the other in development at Bend Studio, known for Days Gone.

In February 2022, Sony laid out ambitious plans to release more than 10 live service games by March 2026, acquiring key studios like Bungie, Firewalk Studios, and Haven Studios to support the push. However, in 2023, Sony president Hiroki Totoki announced the company would reduce its focus, aiming to release only six live service titles by the end of the fiscal year 2025 (March 2026). Totoki emphasized that while the remaining six titles were still in consideration, quality would remain the top priority: “It's not that we stick to certain titles, but for the gamers, quality should be the most important.”

Bungie continues to lead Sony’s live service efforts with Destiny 2 and the upcoming Marathon, set for full release later this year. Recently, Sony also announced teamLFG, a new PlayStation studio working on a live service incubation project. Meanwhile, Guerrilla Games is developing a multiplayer entry in the Horizon series.

Sony’s evolving strategy reflects a broader industry shift, where long-term game运营 demands are proving difficult to balance with creative ambition and market expectations.