- The former head of Google’s short-lived game development efforts has a new project for PlayStation.
- Jade Raymond, who also co-created “Assassin’s Creed,” is leading a new PlayStation studio.
- It’s been less than two months since Google shuttered its game creation studios, led by Raymond.
- Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.
The veteran game developer who most recently led Google’s shuttered game development studios has a new project: Jade Raymond is the head of a new PlayStation-exclusive studio.
“Today I’m announcing Haven, an independent studio where many of the talented game developers I have worked with for years (and love dearly!) are coming together to do what we are most passionate about,” Raymond said on the PlayStation Blog on Tuesday.
The new PlayStation studio announcement comes less than two months since Google suddenly closed its massive game development project, Google Stadia Games & Entertainment.
Raymond, a video-game industry veteran who co-created the “Assassin’s Creed” franchise, was charged with leading Google’s project. Despite Google hiring more than 150 employees to staff the project, the tech giant ended its game creation ambitions in early February before ever launching a major game.
REUTERS/Stephen Lam
“We’ve decided that we will not be investing further in bringing exclusive content from our internal development team SG&E, beyond any near-term planned games,” Google Stadia Vice President Phil Harrison said in a blog post at the time.
Major video game development notoriously costs tens of millions of dollars, and often takes over three years to create a single game. Some of the biggest blockbusters, like “Grand Theft Auto 5,” cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take far longer than three years to create. Google’s studios in Los Angeles and Montreal had less than two years to start work, including hiring, according to current and former staffers.
Alongside the closure of her studios, which resulted in over 150 layoffs, Raymond exited Google.
It’s unclear what her new studio’s first project is, but she teased it in the blog post. “While we don’t have many details to announce today,” she said, “I want the PlayStation community to know that Haven Studios is already hard at work on an unannounced IP. We can’t wait to show you more!”
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