PlayStation cancels live-service shooter Fairgames
PlayStation has officially cancelled Fairgames, the live-service shooter being developed by its Montreal-based subsidiary, Haven Studios. The decision comes after recent playtests failed to meet specific player engagement targets, marking another setback in Sony's ambitious but turbulent push into the live-service market.
According to a statement provided to Bloomberg, Haven Studios will no longer focus on Fairgames. Instead, the studio is set to shift its focus toward collaborating with other development teams across PlayStation Studios while exploring new creative opportunities. Notably, PlayStation confirmed that no jobs have been cut as a result of this cancellation.
The decision was communicated to employees via an email from executives Sean Decker and John Doyle. The leadership noted that while recent playtests demonstrated operational excellence and readiness for live operations, the actual player feedback and retention results were mixed and failed to meet the studio's established goals.
The executives cited a combination of these underwhelming retention metrics and challenging market conditions within the PvP shooter genre as the primary reasons for ceasing development. Fairgames, which was first announced in 2023, had previously seen its release window pushed from last year to Spring 2026.
A turbulent era for Sony's live-service strategy
The cancellation of Fairgames follows a series of high-profile difficulties for Sony's live-service ambitions. After acquiring Bungie for $3.6 billion in 2022, Sony set a goal to launch over ten live-service titles by 2026. However, the company has faced significant financial and strategic setbacks, including a $765 million reduction in the value of the Bungie acquisition in the 2025/26 fiscal year following the underperformance of Destiny 2 and Marathon.
The studio's history has also seen leadership changes. Founded in 2021 by Jade Raymond, Haven Studios was acquired by PlayStation in 2022. Following Raymond's departure in May 2025, Marie-Eve Danis and Pierre-François Sapinski were appointed as co-studio heads.
This latest cancellation adds to a list of recent industry setbacks for the platform holder, including the withdrawal of Concord just two weeks after its 2024 release, which led to the closure of Firewalk Studios and Neon Koi. Additionally, Sony cancelled two unannounced live-service titles from Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games in 2025, with the latter studio eventually closing in 2026, resulting in 70 job losses.
Despite these challenges, Sony Interactive CEO Hideaki Nishino has expressed a commitment to revitalizing the live-service market. Nishino emphasized that the company intends to continue pursuing the genre through a mix of first-party and third-party content, aiming to attract global audiences by providing continuous updates and exploring both new releases and long-term potential for older titles.
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