In an early morning announcement, PlayStation has confirmed that the deal to acquire Jade Raymond's studio, Haven Studios, is finally official. The deal has been in the works since March, and with it finally closed, Haven will join the PlayStation family to put PlayStation's name in the growing live-service market.Earlier this year, Sony announced that Destiny developer and Halo creator, Bungie, would be joining PlayStation. The move came as a bit of surprise as more details released describing it would be more of a partnership rather than a full scale purchase of the team. With Sony's plans to release ten live service games by 2026 it seems like Bungie might be a helping hand in this plan alongside the officially acquired Haven Studios.With the deal finally complete, Haven Studios joins the growing list of studios under the PlayStation name. Haven Studios is also reportedly working on a live-service title for the PS5, and with information being scarce at the moment, it further indicates that PlayStation is preparing to throw its name in the growing market of live-service games.
With this deal having been worked on for quite some time, it's important to note studio head, Jade Raymond, served as the catalyst for the acquisition. Whether it be her time working on the Assassin's Creed franchise as producer and executive producer, serving as the executive producer on the first Watch Dogs game, or be it her hand forming EA's Motive Studios and working on the Google Stadia, Raymond's resume speaks for itself.
The acquisition war has been in full swing for quite some time now with PlayStation and Microsoft going back and forth to assemble a formidable roster of studios. Microsoft made some very surprising moves by acquiring Activision Blizzard and Bethesda in an attempt to bolster the Xbox Game Pass service, while Sony has been conversely looking to bolster a few different areas of their product. Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda has gone through, though there are still hurdles to clear before the Activision acquisition is finalized.
The past couple of years have brought PlaySation gamers heavily focused single-player titles such as the likes of God of War, Horizon Forbidden West and The Last of Us. With Sony looking to step into the live-service market, it'll be interesting to see what comes from this shift in direction as live-service games have garnered a wide variety of feedback from gamers as they become more prominent.