Another one bites the dust. A few years ago PlayStation announced a substantial focus on first-party, live-service titles as part of their long-term future. Since that time, it’s fair to say it’s been a disaster, with several titles being cancelled prior to release alongside studio closures and mass layoffs. And according to a report courtesy of Jason Schreier over at Bloomberg, we can now add Haven’s Fairgame$ to the list.
Initially announced in 2023 as an “competitive multiplayer heist game”, it’s long been rumored that the game wasn’t meeting internal targets and questions of its viability became widespread. Schreier shared an internal memo sent to PlayStation employees today:
While the test demonstrated strong operational excellence, live ops readiness and community engagement, player feedback and retention results were mixed and fell short of the goals we had set,” wrote executives Sean Decker and John Doyle in the note, which was reviewed by Bloomberg News. “Combined with challenging market conditions in the PVP shooter genre, we have made the difficult decision to cease development on the game.”
Fortunately Haven Studio will not see any layoffs as part of the cancellation. Rather, the studio will be moved to other PlayStation projects while also exploring new creative opportunities.
We’ll have more to say on this week’s Bitcast!
