PlayStation is acquiring Jade Raymond’s Haven Studios

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has announced that it’s to acquire Jade Raymond’s new studio Haven for an undisclosed price.

Last year, the veteran producer behind Assassin’s Creed and EA’s Motive studio left her position as Stadia’s development boss after Google decided to close its internal games development teams.

Along with five co-founders and about 20 ex-Google employees, she launched Haven Studios, a Montreal, Canada-based outfit whose first game is an original IP funded by PlayStation.

“Haven Studios is an emerging studio with an exceptional team of talent, and we’re delighted to welcome them into PlayStation as our first game development studio in Canada,” said SIE CEO Jim Ryan.

“The studio’s focus on creating an original AAA multiplayer game will not only flex the power of PlayStation 5 but will further expand upon the diverse catalogue of gaming experiences that can only be found on PlayStation.”

Haven currently employs over 60 members of staff and will become the 18th PlayStation Studios member. Today’s announcement described its debut game as “a new live service experience for PlayStation built upon a systemic and evolving world focused on delivering freedom, thrill, and playfulness”.

The title, which is presumably one of 10 live service games Sony plans to launch by 2026, will also be released for PC, according to a recent studio profile by Le Devoir.

“Joining PlayStation Studios provides Haven with the creative freedom and unparalleled support to focus on building the highest quality games,” said Haven CEO Raymond.

“We’re excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from all of the exceptional PlayStation Studios teams. We intend to fully embrace the incredible capabilities of the PS5 to create new worlds that inspire players and allow them to connect in new ways.”

In a GamesIndustry.biz interview last year, Raymond said Haven’s ambition was to create a new IP that serves as a “social platform” for players, and one that is “designed to be owned by the fans”.

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“The pandemic has proven that gameplay is the social glue that binds communities,” she said. “Especially for the younger generation, this is what you do and how you make friends and hang out. That is something that we really want to build and design for.

“The second thing is thinking about the ‘remix generation’,” Raymond continued. “It started a little while ago, there is this age of self-expression where we’re designing our NikeID shoes, we’re reading our friends blogs rather than what our professional journalists are writing. And I think that has continued to go further with things like TikTok.

“That’s another thing that we’re thinking about at the heart of this IP. It is beyond user-generated content, it is about taking that self-expression and remix concept to the next level.”