Sony Cancels Fairgame$ After Three Years, but Haven Studios Avoids Layoffs

Haven Studios' first game will never reach PlayStation 5 or PC. Sony has canceled Fairgame$, the competitive heist shooter first introduced during the May 2023 PlayStation Showcase, according to a Bloomberg report published on November 10, 2026.

The project spent more than three years largely out of public view. Beyond its original cinematic trailer, PlayStation never provided a substantial official gameplay demonstration. There was no confirmed release date, and now there will be no launch.

The cancellation does not mean Haven Studios is shutting down. A PlayStation spokesperson told Bloomberg that the decision would not trigger layoffs. Instead, the Montreal-based team will collaborate with other developers across PlayStation Studios while exploring new creative opportunities.

A major playtest exposed a retention problem

Bloomberg reviewed an internal message from PlayStation executives Sean Decker and John Doyle explaining the decision. A recent test reportedly involved thousands of participants, but the results failed to meet Sony's internal targets.

The feedback was not uniformly negative. The executives reportedly acknowledged that the project demonstrated operational readiness, strong preparation for live-service operations and community engagement. However, player feedback and retention were mixed and below expectations.

For an online shooter designed around repeated play sessions, that is a serious distinction. Stable infrastructure and competent live operations are necessary, but they do not guarantee that players will want to return week after week.

Sony also cited difficult market conditions for competitive shooters. The company has not published the test's retention figures, participant breakdown or acceptance thresholds, so the precise scale of the shortfall remains unknown.

What Fairgame$ was supposed to offer

Haven introduced Fairgame$ as a modern competitive heist experience. Players would join an underground movement targeting wealthy individuals and corporations, breaking into restricted locations to secure valuable loot.

Its central design concept combined cooperation within a crew with competition against other crews. Players would need to overcome security systems while dealing with rival teams pursuing their own objectives.

Creative director Mathieu Leduc presented the project as a sandbox multiplayer experience built around creativity, player mastery and unpredictable encounters. It was an ambitious pitch, especially for a newly acquired first-party studio trying to establish an original franchise.

But the public never had much evidence of how those ambitions translated into actual play. The announcement focused on cinematic presentation, and meaningful official gameplay updates did not follow.

Bloomberg also reports that the project underwent multiple revisions and had been considered for a new reveal under a different name. Those plans did not result in a public relaunch.

Haven survives the cancellation

Haven was founded in 2021 by Jade Raymond, whose previous work included the early Assassin's Creed games. Sony announced its acquisition of the studio in March 2022, before Haven had released a commercial title.

The investment was closely tied to Sony's ambition to expand its internal multiplayer development capabilities. Fairgame$ was intended to become the team's first original project and a new addition to PlayStation's live-service portfolio.

Raymond departed Haven in 2025, but development continued without her. The latest decision finally brings that development effort to an end.

Sony has not disclosed which PlayStation Studios projects Haven will support next. The company has also left open the possibility of other creative work, without announcing a replacement game.

Another project disappears from PlayStation's multiplayer plans

Fairgame$ joins several multiplayer projects that Sony has either canceled or discontinued during the PS5 generation. Naughty Dog ended development of The Last of Us Online in 2023, while Concord was taken offline shortly after its 2024 release. Sony subsequently closed Concord developer Firewalk Studios.

Haven's outcome is notably different. Sony is preserving the development team despite canceling its main project. That approach avoids the immediate job losses associated with some other studio closures, although it does not erase the cost of years spent on a game that will never ship.

PlayStation has not abandoned multiplayer development altogether. Helldivers 2 demonstrated that successful live-service titles remain possible, and other multiplayer projects continue across Sony's studios.

Fairgame$ illustrates a more selective approach to that investment. Sony chose to end a project after testing suggested it would struggle to retain players, rather than carry the game through to launch.

For anyone interested in Haven's competitive heist concept, the original 2023 announcement remains the closest thing to a public showcase. Its promised sandbox systems never reached a commercial release.