Jade Raymond Leaves Fairgames Amid Sony's Ongoing Live Service Challenges

Jade Raymond has departed Haven Studios, the Sony-owned developer behind the upcoming online multiplayer shooter Fairgames, in what appears to be another setback for PlayStation’s live service strategy. According to Bloomberg, her exit came shortly after an external test of Fairgames reportedly received poor feedback from testers, prompting internal concerns about the game’s direction and progress.

Originally slated for a fall 2025 release, Fairgames has now been pushed back to spring 2026. While Sony has not publicly disclosed the reason for Raymond’s departure, sources familiar with the situation indicate that leadership at PlayStation did not provide an explanation to Haven Studios staff. Despite the change, Sony remains committed to the studio and the project, with new co-studio heads Marie-Eve Danis and Pierre-François Sapinski stepping into leadership roles.

This development adds to a growing list of challenges facing Sony’s live service ambitions, which now seem to be shifting toward a more selective, quality-first approach. While Arrowhead Game Studios’ Helldivers 2 became a massive success—selling 12 million copies within 12 weeks and earning the title of fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever—other live service efforts have faltered badly.

The most notable failure remains Concord, one of the shortest-lived major game launches in PlayStation history. Pulled from storefronts just weeks after release due to critically low player counts, the game was ultimately canceled, and its development team shut down. That disappointment followed the cancellation of Naughty Dog’s ambitious Last of Us multiplayer title and, more recently, two unannounced live service projects—one a God of War spinoff from Bluepoint Games, the other from Bend Studio, known for Days Gone.

Sony initially announced an aggressive plan in February 2022 to release over 10 live service titles by March 2026, investing heavily in acquisitions like Bungie, Haven Studios, and the now-defunct Firewalk Studios to fuel the initiative. However, by 2023, company president Hiroki Totoki confirmed a strategic pivot: only six of the original 12 live service games would launch by the end of fiscal year 2025 (March 2026). He emphasized that quality—not quantity—would guide future decisions, stating, “It’s not that we stick to certain titles, but for the gamers, quality should be the most important.”

Today, Bungie continues as a key pillar of Sony’s live service lineup, with Destiny 2 thriving and the rebooted Marathon expected to fully launch later this year. In addition, Sony recently formed a new studio called teamLFG, focused on a live service incubation project, while Guerrilla Games presses forward on its Horizon multiplayer title. Despite recent setbacks, Sony hasn’t abandoned the model—but it’s clear the company is rethinking how it builds and supports these long-term games.