Jade Raymond's new studio Haven Entertainment Studios has yet to officially announce what the game is working on, but the studio announced in March that it would be pairing with PlayStation to develop its debut title. While there is still little known about Haven's new PlayStation exclusive, a new report claims to have information that the game will be an online service title.
Jade Raymond is perhaps best known for her work at Ubisoft where she was a producer on the first two Assassin's Creed titles as well as a managing director of Far Cry 4. Raymond then went on to work at Google Stadia before founding Haven Entertainment Studios after Google Stadia closed two of its first-party studios.
The reporting on Raymond's new title comes from Italian website Multiplayer.IT. The website claims that it received the information from a recruiter within the games industry that was hired by Haven Entertainment Studios to help the studio hire a developer with experience working on online service titles. Haven Entertainment Studios has already hired a lot of big-name developers in the past, including fellow Assassin's Creed producer Sebastien Pule as well as the series' lead writer Corey May. The studio has also hired the likes of Mathieu Leduc, who was the art director of the first two Watch Dogs titles, as well as Daniel Drapeau, the gameplay director of Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
The leak is also seemingly supported by recent statements from Raymond that seem to indicate the developer's interest in creating an online service title. Raymond has recently discussed her opinion that the hit franchises of the future would be driven by fans rather than developers. She has talked at length about how she believes that future titles need to give players the power to creatively develop and drive the story with their choices and actions have a tangible impact on the game and its canon. For examples she has pointed at successful live-service games such as Grand Theft Auto Online and Rainbow Six Siege.
It will be very interesting to see what Raymond's team at Haven Entertainment Studios ends up releasing. Online Service games have become increasingly popular in recent years, with fans being willing to pour countless hours into their favorites. However, many have questioned just how many online service games the industry can support at once since each title asks players to devote a lot of their time and resources to the game. Hopefully, Raymond's team will be able to develop a title that can carve out its own place in the market and give players an exciting new experience.
Source: Multiplayer.IT