PlayStation Acquires Jade Raymond's Haven Entertainment Studios - News

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Sony Interactive Entertainment announced it has acquired Jade Raymond's Haven Entertainment Studios. 

Haven has over 60 employees and is growing. It is the 18th studio to be part of PlayStation Studios. Haven Studios management will continue to run the day-to-day operations while working close with leadership at PlayStation Studios.

"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 Sony Interactive Entertainment President & 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 catalog of gaming experiences that can only be found on PlayStation."

Head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst added, "We’ve had the privilege of working closely with the team at Haven Studios over the past year and have been extremely impressed with its growth and progress on its first project.

"Jade has built a world-class team with the creative and technical prowess necessary to deliver on such an ambitious project. We value the studio’s dedication to building a player-first, collaborative game environment that can last for generations and are thrilled to have them officially become a part of PlayStation Studios."

Haven Studios CEO and Founder Jade Raymond added, "Joining PlayStation Studios provides Haven with the creative freedom and unparalleled support to focus on building the highest quality games.

"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."

Raymond, a Canadian video game producer, announced the formation of the studio in March 2021. She was the former executive in charge of Stadia Games and Entertainment before Google shut them down. 

From day one the studio was working on a new original IP for PlayStation.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

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DonFerrari (on 21 March 2022)

Congrats to them, and I was expecting it by their interviews. It is even possible that they were already planning that from the opening of the studio and game contract, perhaps some milestones to be achieved during the development of the game would trigger the pursuit. And they probably have some parachute clauses to ensure the founding team stays there at least until they deliver the game.

• +6

TallSilhouette (on 21 March 2022)

Very curious to see what they're working on.

• +5

Jumpinbeans (on 21 March 2022)

Two very different approaches
Sony - buys established smaller developers (ok Bungie is an exception) plus a few up and coming
Microsoft - buys established companies with multiple studios

Each to their own but interesting to see their approaches.

• +5

G2ThaUNiT Jumpinbeans (on 21 March 2022)

True, but Microsoft did also purchase 7 smaller individual studios prior to the Bethesda purchase. So it's not like Xbox just had 343 (Halo) The Coalition (Gears of War) and Turn 10 Studios/Playground Games ( Forza Motorsport and Horizon, respectively) then Microsoft went on their major spending spree. They built up Xbox Game Studios first before broadly branching out. Broadened out a bit too much if you ask me lol. I'm not a fan of the Activision Blizzard purchase personally.

• +10

dane007 Jumpinbeans (on 21 March 2022)

Sony did that during ps1 and ps2 era. Hence why so many games came on both consoles during that time.. People have forgotten that sony did that. Now Sony can't afford big studios like Activision, ea, ubisoft and so on like Ms. If they could, they would. All companies have one share goal. That's to entice their consumers to buy their machines and that comes solely from game studios

• -11

Teno dane007 (on 21 March 2022)

Ubisoft's shares are constantly falling. It's a lot cheaper, than buying Bethesda currently. Out of the three you said, it is the only one Sony could buy.

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dane007 CGI-Quality (on 24 March 2022)

So are you saying that sony can afford 68.7 billion that ms spent on Activision?

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Imaginedvl Jumpinbeans (on 21 March 2022)

You realize the only difference is the money they can spend? :) Sony buys whatever they can with the noney they have. Microsoft does the same exact thing. Same approach.

• -15

Vengeance1138 Imaginedvl (on 22 March 2022)

Not even close, try again. Sony only buys the studios that fit their mold and game genre strategy which is strong narrative single player as well as strong MP games which is their current strategy of rounding off their portfolio. MS however, just buys anything and everything and who cares what game they make as long as they are under MS control.

• +1

Imaginedvl Vengeance1138 (on 22 March 2022)

ahah this is cute :)

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dane007 Vengeance1138 (on 22 March 2022)

Bethesda does story narrative games and multiplayer. Activision does the same single narrative and multiplayer and has platformer games. Ninja theory do strong story based narrative, obsidian does the same. Both companies have the same strategy as they have the same goal. No companies are an angel when it comes to buying studios

• +2

Azzanation Jumpinbeans (on 21 March 2022)

The way i see it, Sony purchases to fill gaps while MS purchase to increase production output.

• -12

LudicrousSpeed Jumpinbeans (on 22 March 2022)

MS bought smaller studios like this a few years ago. Yes, Bethesda and Act/Blizz over shadow them, but those studios still exist. Also, Sony has bought big studios too. Naughty Dog, GG, Insomniac, Bungie as you mentioned.

• +4

LivncA_Dis3 (on 21 March 2022)

Sony's small acquisitions might pay dividends in the long run!

Buying established companies with multiple studios is not going to be easy for SONY so doing these moves are quite fine,

Partnerships and building trust before purchase as always is what they do unlike the other guyz swimming in all that munney

• +4

Koragg (on 21 March 2022)

Nice, I predict Deviation Games are next.

• +1

Qwark (on 21 March 2022)

Hermen was not kidding when he said he wanted to expand PlayStation. Anyway a new dev team is always welcome. Also the first PS studio with a female director I think. Good for the whole lack of equality at PS, sly move PlayStation, sly move.

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Azzanation (on 21 March 2022)

I know this comes as a questionable purchase for some but PS are dead last when it comes to MP games compared to their direct competitors. These purchases make more sense to fill holes in where they were lacking. Bungie and now Haven are possible solutions.

• -12

Azzanation Azzanation (on 21 March 2022)

Hynad with his -4 Downvote button at it again. Be atleast suttle about it. VGchartz control it.

• -5

Leynos (on 21 March 2022)

She has not worked on anything good since 2009. Also can't stay in one place. Would not be surprised if she left in a year or two.

• -15

Hynad Leynos (on 21 March 2022)

You should inform yourself about her a little more.

• +6

Leynos Hynad (on 21 March 2022)

Far Cry 4 is a sequel mediocre Ubisoft series on repeat with Ubisoft bad Open worlds
Star Wars Battlefront II is a fucking mess of MTX
Watch Dogs sucked. 2 was good but she didn't work on that
AC Unity was a disaster
AC Bloodlines is a mediocre PSP game
Fans hated that Splinter Cell
Mighty Quest is a mobile game with mediocre reception

That is everything post-ACII, so again not worked on anything good since 2009

• -8

Hynad Leynos (on 21 March 2022)

Inform yourself better.

• +4

G2ThaUNiT Hynad (on 21 March 2022)

You definitely need to enlighten us because you seem to know something we don't.

Looking at her list of game credits, the first 2 Assassin's Creed games are the real claims to fame, but she hasn't been able to release a game with her name on it since 2017's Battlefront II, which granted, the game itself was good besides the mtx . The rest of her catalogue has been kinda meh to okay.

• -11

Hynad G2ThaUNiT (on 21 March 2022)

Do you even understand what she’s been credited for, for the projects you use to downplay her?

• +3

G2ThaUNiT Hynad (on 21 March 2022)

I'm just looking at public information for game credits. I do see she was a Producer for Metal Gear Solid 4, which was great, but not much else in regards to great games.

Like I said, enlighten us. You may know more info that isn't publicly available.

• -12

Hynad G2ThaUNiT (on 21 March 2022)

I already pointed you toward the right direction. Don’t be lazy now. Do some of the thinking.

• +3

G2ThaUNiT Hynad (on 21 March 2022)

I've played all the games she has a public game credit for, except The Sims Online, and I didn't care for most of them. So unless it's some sort of philanthropy, tech innovation, or something outside of gaming she's credited for, I'm going to conclude she's at best, an okay games creator.

I am very interested to see what she's working on with her new studio though as it caught Sony's interest enough to make an offer for purchase.

• -8

Hynad G2ThaUNiT (on 21 March 2022)

Managerial credit. Rings a bell?

I’ll spell it out, because you don’t understand how the industry works: she is well known, and praised, for her ability to create and nurture teams with good synergy and efficiency. Many of the studios that she helped create over the course of her career still exist today.

• +6

G2ThaUNiT Hynad (on 21 March 2022)

And that's great! But you seem to think that's the entire piece to the puzzle whereas in reality, that's only half of it. How many studios have put out amazing games that the gaming industry lauds and raves over but are absolutely god awful in management and treat their employees like crap? Most recently, Moon Studios awful work culture and leadership is being brought to light despite the critically acclaimed Ori games. You can have great games, bad leadership and you can have great leadership, bad games. I'm hoping Jade mends the two together! Insomniac Games is a great example of great leadership and great games.

So as great as Jade is in management, which what developer wouldn't want to work for her given her track record, that still needs to equate into great games. Which, up to this point, hasn't been the greatest. I am hoping this new game, so far is a live service title, blows the roof off!

• -3

Hynad G2ThaUNiT (on 21 March 2022)

Your need to put a negative spin on all this is peculiar.

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G2ThaUNiT Hynad (on 21 March 2022)

No, I'm just realistic about things. Great management doesn't always translate into great games. Let me put it to you in a way you'll understand more clearly on what I mean.

Try convincing your average gamer to spend $60/$70 on a game that may be okay at best and see how they react to having spent their money on that kind of game. Think they'll be grateful? No. Many would be pissed at you, thinking you wasted their time and money.

You seem to think I'm rooting against Jade, hoping this endeavor fails. Anything but! I'm really hoping she finally is able to get a game out there that knocks it out of the park because she deserves it. But I haven't touched a Ubisoft game in years because of how bland, generic, repetitive, and boring their games have become. And quite a few of the titles Jade is credited on, I felt that exact way about them. Motive is doing great things and I'm looking forward to the Dead Space remake. I wish Jade could've been there to see the fruits of her labor flourish. Here's to hoping that with her leadership, her new studio is able to craft a gem of a game.

• -4

Hynad G2ThaUNiT (on 21 March 2022)

You are rooting against her. You take a negative point of view from the get go. And disregard the point I made about Jade Raymond assembling teams and being on business and team management duties while others make the actual games. Is Shuntaro Furukawa responsible for Metroid Dread, or is it [mostly] a Yoshio Sakamoto game?

The same way, Jade Raymond is credited for being at the helm of the studios that produced those games, not for being the creative or directorial force behind them.

A simple look at the corresponding games’ actual credits could help you understand. She’s not credited as a director or producer for FarCry 4, for example.

• +2

G2ThaUNiT Hynad (on 21 March 2022)

You assume much about my point of view and jump to conclusions. I give up on helping you see the reality of what could happen. I'm just hoping it all works out and Sony doesn't make her and her studio do what they did with Polyphony Digital and Gran Turismo 7 when it comes to the live service aspects.

• -5

Hynad G2ThaUNiT (on 21 March 2022)

My gosh, you’re actually hilarious.

What could happen isn’t reality. It’s a possibility. Cling to negativity all you want, that’s your prerogative. Until anything has been released by her team, it achieves nothing other than an obvious attempt to rile people up. That mention of GT7, mixing both topics as if it all comes down to a common denominator, made that obvious.

• +1

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method114 G2ThaUNiT (on 21 March 2022)

Sure but great management is a start. Ask the initiative.

• +4

DonFerrari G2ThaUNiT (on 21 March 2022)

I will throw you a bone. Read the interviews on the dev page. The last decade or so she was involved with opening studios and creating teams not directly creating the games. So Hynad is excited about she creating a new studio more than games she was credited for.

• +5

G2ThaUNiT DonFerrari (on 21 March 2022)

That's fantastic to read, but Hynad also seems to think that's all it takes to making a great game. As much as we would all want for great management to be rewarded with great games and sales, that's not always the case. Therefore, most gamers are going to take her game credits at face value and judge her based on that. I'm really hoping this all works out though and we get a fantastic game out of this Sony partnership!

• -4

Hynad G2ThaUNiT (on 21 March 2022)

I never remotely implied it’s all it takes to make a great game. You got that out of your own ass.

"Therefore, most gamers are going to take her game credits at face value and judge her based on that. "

As you displayed here, "most" gamers are ignorants. Because the "face value" of those credits you mention are explicit about the roles she played for each game.

• +8

DonFerrari Hynad (on 21 March 2022)

Most gamers don't know even the studio that make the games, much less the name of one of the person in the credits that helped make the game. Unless of course gto can give us the name of 10 producers of RDR2 or any other big game. I can at most remember the name of the director of some of the games I really like but none of games I don't care or liked.

• +5

DonFerrari G2ThaUNiT (on 21 March 2022)

Sorry but you are in the wrong here.
Sure having a good manager at creating studios don't mean the games produced will be good, but at the same time you use your personal taste because as far as sales go the games her studios created have done fairly well haven't it? Or do you think Sony would buy a studio before their first game releases if they didn't trust her capability to create the studio and selling games? Considering they announced the purchase like a year after the game development started they are confident this product will turn ou fine.
Do you know PD is independent subsidiary and the MTX there is a decision more from Kazunori Yamauchi than from Sony itself right? Did you also blamed Sony for not greenlighting Days Gone 2 even after hearing that it was Bend management itself that didn't approved the game and never pitched it to Sony?
You are certainly allowed to be skeptical and want to wait to see before judging this as a good purchase or that the game will be good, but you should also reserve that right on not thinking it will be bad before hand.

• +5

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