In March 2021, Murderer’s Creed co-creator and former Stadia Video games and Leisure head Jade Raymond introduced that she’d launched a new studio called Haven. The studio was “impartial” however backed by Sony, and its first venture was described as a “new IP for PlayStation.”
It sounded very very similar to a PlayStation studio in all however identify, and now it is official: PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst introduced immediately that Sony has acquired Haven.
“We started working with Jade and her group in early 2021 once they have been getting ready to asserting the formation of Haven Studios,” Hulst wrote. “From their first pitch, we have been impressed by Haven’s imaginative and prescient for creating a contemporary multiplayer expertise that brings players collectively in optimistic and significant methods. We have been assured of their artistic and technical experience to ship on such an formidable venture and have been thrilled to spend money on their journey creating a brand new, authentic IP for PlayStation.”
Specifics about Haven’s first recreation nonetheless have not been revealed, however Raymond stated in her personal assertion that the studio has “made superb progress in a short while due to our proficient, passionate group and their distinctive contributions.”
“Our first new IP for PlayStation is on observe to ship a triple-A multiplayer expertise with a imaginative and prescient to construct a systemic and evolving world centered on freedom, thrill, and playfulness that can maintain gamers entertained and engaged for years,” Raymond stated.
“As a SIE first-party studio, we may have the chance to collaborate with a number of the world’s most famed improvement groups, together with studios like Guerrilla, Naughty Canine, Media Molecule, and Insomniac Video games, the creators of video games which have impressed us as gamers and builders for years. We’re excited to be taught from these world-class studios, in addition to the distinctive central artistic, know-how and advertising groups whose experience will allow us to ship even higher video games to gamers.”
Raymond’s description of Haven’s in-progress venture is obscure to say the least, and whereas the havenstudios.com web site is unquestionably extra built-out than it was final yr, it nonetheless does not have a lot to say about what is going on on. Principally a recruiting pages at this stage, it is crammed with multi-font platitudes about ardour, marvel, creativity, and all that—”We construct alternatives for fearless optimism” is one such message—laid over generic idea artwork, and in any other case options job listings, a “meet the group” web page, and a weblog part. Data on what it is really doing, nevertheless, stays elusive.
Additionally unclear is what platforms Haven’s first recreation will seem on. In a separate press release, Sony Interactive Leisure CEO Jim Ryan stated the venture “is not going to solely flex the facility of PlayStation 5 however will additional increase upon the varied catalog of gaming experiences that may solely be discovered on PlayStation.” That clearly factors to PS5 exclusivity, which is one thing Sony has beforehand indicated it wants to maintain. However PC ports of first-party Sony video games, together with heavy hitters like Horizon: Zero Dawn, Days Gone, and Uncharted, are more and more widespread, and nowadays we are likely to see them extra as a matter of “when,” reasonably than “if.”
