Assassin's Creed creator Jade Raymond has left the PlayStation studio she founded four years ago.
According to Bloomberg, Raymond, who founded Haven Studios in partnership with PlayStation in 2021, has left the company, but Sony hasn't provided staff a reason for her departure. Bloomberg's report claims that she left "several weeks after an external test of Haven's first game," amid internal concerns about how the game was being received.
That game was Fairgames, a Payday-style shooter that's thought to have been one part of PlayStation's oft-maligned live-service push. That push hit an abrupt halt with the high-profile failure of Concord last year, even though several projects remained in the works. It does look as though Sony is gradually changing course away from that strategy, but it was almost certainly hoping that those still in development made it to launch.
In September 2024, reports suggested Sony was feeling good about Fairgames - internal conversation was said to be "very positive." Whether those reports were inaccurate or external and internal expectations weren't aligned isn't clear, but what remains readily apparent is that Raymond's departure will be a significant blow to the studio.
From the lofty heights of helping to create the original Assassin's Creed at Ubisoft, Raymond's career has failed to yield much in more recent years. Before her four years at Haven Studios, Raymond was employed at Stadia, Google's failed game-streaming service, which was discontinued after a little over three years in 2023.
Remember happier times with our list of the best Assassin's Creed games.
