Fairgames canceled: Sony pulls Haven's heist shooter

Fairgames canceled: Sony has stopped Haven Studios' PS5 and PC heist game after a weak playtest. There are no layoffs as the team moves to other projects.

FireGhost

November 11, 2026, 09:10 AM5 min read

Contents11 sections

Fairgames canceled: Sony has stopped work on Fairgame$, first revealed on the PlayStation Blog in 2023. The competitive heist game from Haven Studios was in development for PS5 and PC and has now been shelved after a recent playtest.

The news broke on November 10 in Bloomberg's report on the Fairgames cancellation. PlayStation says nobody will lose their job. It is a very different outcome from Bungie's live-service push, which just got a Marathon Symbiosis update and a free week for December.

Masked heist crew in Fairgame$ reveal artwork — Artwork from the 2023 Fairgame$ reveal (Source: PlayStation Blog)

Why was the Fairgames cancellation decided?

It came down to the last playtest. PlayStation executives Sean Decker and John Doyle wrote to staff in an email that Bloomberg reviewed. The test ran with thousands of players. The team showed strong operational excellence, live-ops readiness and community engagement.

The problem was the players. The executives said feedback and retention were mixed and fell short of the goals Sony had set. They also pointed to challenging market conditions in the PvP shooter genre. Put together, those two things ended the project.

Fairgames cancellation at a glance

Game: Fairgame$, a competitive multiplayer heist game
Developer: Haven Studios in Montreal, part of PlayStation Studios
Platforms: announced for PS5 and PC
Reveal: May 2023 PlayStation Showcase
Reason: mixed playtest feedback and weak retention
Layoffs: none; the team moves to support other PlayStation studios

What happens to Haven Studios now?

The studio stays open. PlayStation says Haven will work with other teams across PlayStation Studios and look at new creative opportunities. So the staff keep their jobs, but the studio has no game of its own for now.

Haven was founded in 2021 and bought by Sony in 2022. Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond led it at first. Kotaku's report on the cancellation notes that Raymond left in 2025 while the project quietly carried on. After the 2023 CGI trailer, Sony barely showed the game again.

Fairgame$ heist crew in a purple-lit vault scene — The Fairgame$ crew in the reveal trailer (Source: PlayStation Blog)

What was Fairgame$ meant to be?

Creative director Mathieu Leduc introduced the game in 2023 as a fresh take on the heist genre. Players would join an underground movement, rob the ultra-rich and rebalance the scales. Crews would plan together, break into forbidden locations and grab loot. Leduc promised emergent sandbox play that rewarded creativity and mastery. Real gameplay was never shown in public.

What does it mean for players?

Fairgames is not Sony's first live-service casualty. The company already pulled Concord from sale and closed its developer, Firewalk Studios. Even so, Sony keeps saying live-service games matter to the future of PlayStation.

For players, the clearest result is one fewer PvP game on the way to PS5. It also fits a month of trimmed plans at Sony, including PS VR2 being pulled from Sony's stores and the Pulse Elevate speakers being delayed indefinitely.

Laser security corridor in the Fairgame$ reveal — A laser-filled scene from the Fairgame$ reveal (Source: PlayStation Blog)

How is PS5 doing?

There was good news on the hardware side at the same time. Sony Interactive's official sales data page now shows PS5 above 100 million units shipped as of November 10. Sony's last quarterly report had the figure at 97.9 million, as we covered in our PS5 sales report at 97.9 million. The console keeps growing, but Sony is getting pickier about live-service bets.

Frequently asked questions

Why was Fairgames canceled?

According to an internal email reported by Bloomberg, a recent playtest with thousands of players fell short. Player feedback and retention were mixed, and Sony also pointed to tough market conditions for PvP shooters.

Is Haven Studios closing?

No. PlayStation says there will be no layoffs. Haven will support other teams across PlayStation Studios while it explores new creative opportunities.