PlayStation has announced the cancellation of the live-service shooter Fairgames
PlayStation has decided to halt the development of Fairgames, a live-service shooter that was under production at its Montreal branch, Haven Studios.
In a communication with Bloomberg, PlayStation announced that Haven Studios would pivot towards working with other teams at PlayStation Studios and exploring new creative ventures. There have been no layoffs due to this project termination.
Details from an email reviewed by Bloomberg show that Haven executives Sean Decker and John Doyle told staff that a recent playtest for Fairgames did not meet the team's expectations.
They noted that although the test showcased excellent operational capabilities and live-ops preparedness, the feedback and retention from players did not align with their objectives. This, combined with tough market conditions in the player-versus-player shooter genre, led to the tough decision to stop the game's development.
Haven Studios, established by Jade Raymond in 2021 and acquired by PlayStation Studios in 2022, had revealed Fairgames in 2023 with plans for a release last year, later postponed to Spring 2026.
Post Jade Raymond's exit in May 2025, the studio promoted executive producer Marie-Eve Danis and Pierre-François Sapinski to co-studio heads.
PlayStation embarked on expanding its presence in the live-service gaming sector in 2022 by acquiring Bungie for $3.6 billion. Former Sony Interactive Entertainment head Jim Ryan had mentioned their aim to launch over ten live-service games by 2026.
Sony later reduced its valuation by $765 million for the fiscal year 2025/26 after the disappointing performance of Destiny 2 and Marathon.
Earlier this year, Bungie let go of 292 employees and stopped further development on Destiny 2. After wrapping up the game's final update, Bungie announced intentions to bring back previous campaigns, raids, and destinations to regain player confidence.
Among Sony's most notable live-service failures was Concord in 2024, removed from sale just two weeks post-launch. This led Sony to shut down Firewalk Studios, along with Neon Koi.
In 2025, Sony terminated two undisclosed live-service games from Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games. The next year Sony closed Bluepoint, resulting in 70 job losses.
Sony Interactive CEO Hideaki Nishino previously expressed a desire to 'revitalize' their approach to live-service games through a mix of internally and externally developed content in light of these setbacks.
Nishino emphasized that live-service titles have a worldwide appeal, expressing Sony's intention to rejuvenate the market through first-party and third-party offerings. "Beyond merely introducing new games, we are exploring possibilities for older titles to leverage both short-term and extended strategies," he stated.
He added that live-service games require ongoing content delivery and acknowledged the relative novelty of the genre, with many in the industry experimenting as Sony endeavors to innovate within this space.