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The PS5 exclusive in development by Jade Raymond's studio Haven is an online GaaS

If true -

  • good news

    Votes: 53 17.3%
  • bad news

    Votes: 254 82.7%

  • Total voters
    307
First of all, since when Jade Raymond is relevant? Who cares?

Second, don't worry guys. This game is not for us. It's for millions of kids playing Fortnite.

The games we like are still coming.

PS since I started plaging Magic Arena I'm a GaaS believer.
'since when Jade Raymond is relevant?'

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IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman

Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, Raymond broke down some of the employees already hired to bring Haven's first game to life. Namely, she mentions key veterans from the Assassin's Creed franchise. This includes Raphael Lacoste, the franchise's art director through July 2021, as Haven's artistic director, writer Corey May as Haven's world director, AI programmer and gameplay lead Pierre-Francois Sapinski as Haven's head of production, and others further down the hierarchy. Then there's Raymond herself, who was a producer for the original Assassin's Creed and stayed with the franchise through 2014.

All in all, Haven has grown to over 50 developers since its founding in March. Its team is made up not just of Assassin's Creed Veterans, but also teammates from other Ubisoft properties like Rainbow Six Siege and Watch Dogs. Raymond's also previously discussed bringing over talent from Google following the closure of the Stadia team, which is part of why the studio is named Haven.

In talking about Haven, Raymond also revealed some details about the studio's goals looking toward its first project. Raymond notes that she sees three things that are "really exciting" that also make up pillars for Haven's approach to game development. Those pillars are "Games as a Social Platform," "Remix Generation" which implies how young people are more creatively involved and connected than ever before, and "Self-Expression" in a way that goes beyond user-generated content.

Characterizing these thoughts, Raymond describes a game concept that not only has depth but is also "designed to be owned by the fans from the start." She notes how Assassin's Creed was designed to be "owned" by future creative teams. Haven's IP will be designed to be owned not just by its developers but also by fans.

That's what Haven ultimately is. It's a group of friends who have worked together for years putting together a genuinely creative project. That seems like a rather special arrangement. Fans will just have to be patient to see what Haven puts together.
 

RCU005

Member
If it’s indeed a GaaS game, she better start praying it is as popular as Fortnite or Genshin Impact and not like Destruction All-Stars, because her company is not going to last very long.
 

ToTTenTranz

Banned

Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, Raymond broke down some of the employees already hired to bring Haven's first game to life. Namely, she mentions key veterans from the Assassin's Creed franchise. This includes Raphael Lacoste, the franchise's art director through July 2021, as Haven's artistic director, writer Corey May as Haven's world director, AI programmer and gameplay lead Pierre-Francois Sapinski as Haven's head of production, and others further down the hierarchy. Then there's Raymond herself, who was a producer for the original Assassin's Creed and stayed with the franchise through 2014.

All in all, Haven has grown to over 50 developers since its founding in March. Its team is made up not just of Assassin's Creed Veterans, but also teammates from other Ubisoft properties like Rainbow Six Siege and Watch Dogs. Raymond's also previously discussed bringing over talent from Google following the closure of the Stadia team, which is part of why the studio is named Haven.

In talking about Haven, Raymond also revealed some details about the studio's goals looking toward its first project. Raymond notes that she sees three things that are "really exciting" that also make up pillars for Haven's approach to game development. Those pillars are "Games as a Social Platform," "Remix Generation" which implies how young people are more creatively involved and connected than ever before, and "Self-Expression" in a way that goes beyond user-generated content.

Characterizing these thoughts, Raymond describes a game concept that not only has depth but is also "designed to be owned by the fans from the start." She notes how Assassin's Creed was designed to be "owned" by future creative teams. Haven's IP will be designed to be owned not just by its developers but also by fans.

That's what Haven ultimately is. It's a group of friends who have worked together for years putting together a genuinely creative project. That seems like a rather special arrangement. Fans will just have to be patient to see what Haven puts together.
From this interview it sounds like they're trying to do a Roblox wanabe...
 

Melchiah

Member
No problems with that, since one of my favorite games last gen was FTP online GAAS game. Namely, Let It Die, which just reached 7 million downloads.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
From this interview it sounds like they're trying to do a Roblox wanabe...

This is a smart move.

Many of the leading multiplayer games on the market right now feel like they could be toppled by a AAA developer who understands why people love those games. Roblox 2.0 makes so much sense.
 
GaaS, FPS, subscription services... Jimbo knows his audience.

Or should I say, Jimbo knows his audience will blindly follow whatever he does.
 
What I love about this is it teaches us to have more respect for games in general because it's no longer a popular talking point to use to bash another fanbase over the head with.

This game could be incredible for all we know. It being a service game isn't at all evidence that it won't be good.

Unless people forgot, Sunset Overdrive by Insomniac was pitched as a live service game that would evolve also.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
GaaS, FPS, subscription services... Jimbo knows his audience.

Or should I say, Jimbo knows his audience will blindly follow whatever he does.

More like Jim knows the lowest common denominator dont’ do research and have the foresight of a goldfish.
 

Buggy Loop

Member
Is Jade actually a good producer/leader, or have games been successfully completed in spite of her leadership? It seems like a lot of her projects after Ubisoft have failed.

I would say she was lucky to even be participating in the golden age of Ubisoft Montreal when it was oozing with talent and money without any competitors to poach their talent pool nearby. Putting directors on a pedestal when it’s such a big team that has to contribute their best is always something I found cringe, even Miyamoto and so on.
 

Sosokrates

Report me if I continue to console war
Depsite all these new online sony games. People will probably stick with fortnite, pubg, cod,fifa + GTA online.
 
The best GAAS game of 2022 will be on Switch. Splatoon 3.

If it's made by people that just want to create fun gameplay, and enhance that with regular updates and content, fun special events that don't demand you attend but add life to the game for 2 years, then it's a great thing.

If it's made by people that study analytics and utilize data to determine retention rates and the psychology of effective manipulation, monetization, and attendance capture, then it's an abomination.

I guess we'll see which version we end up with from PS games.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Yuck. How many fucking GaaS games do we need from Sony.

This means all three studios they partnered with last year are making GaaS games.
- Ex-Treyarch devs
- Ex-Bungie Devs
- Jade Raymond studio

Add in Bungie's new IP, TLOU Factions 2 and we have 5 Gaas Games already. We know from Job listings that GG was making a GaaS game. Thats six.

This still leaves us with 4 more GaaS games currently in dev since Jim Ryan said they are going to have 10 GaaS games out by 2026.

I wanted Sony to diversify their portofilio but this is insane. They should stick with what they know best. 2-3 GaaS games max. Their studios already take forever to release games. They only have like five AAA studios left anyway. If ND and GG are already working on GaaS games then when can we expect single player next gen games from them? In 2027? Who are the other four studios working on GaaS games? We only have Bend, Sucker Punch, SSM and Insomniac left. Are they all making GaaS games too?
 
Yuck. How many fucking GaaS games do we need from Sony.

This means all three studios they partnered with last year are making GaaS games.
- Ex-Treyarch devs
- Ex-Bungie Devs
- Jade Raymond studio

Add in Bungie's new IP, TLOU Factions 2 and we have 5 Gaas Games already. We know from Job listings that GG was making a GaaS game. Thats six.

This still leaves us with 4 more GaaS games currently in dev since Jim Ryan said they are going to have 10 GaaS games out by 2026.

I wanted Sony to diversify their portofilio but this is insane. They should stick with what they know best. 2-3 GaaS games max. Their studios already take forever to release games. They only have like five AAA studios left anyway. If ND and GG are already working on GaaS games then when can we expect single player next gen games from them? In 2027? Who are the other four studios working on GaaS games? We only have Bend, Sucker Punch, SSM and Insomniac left. Are they all making GaaS games too?
  • Santa Monica are working on at least 2 games.
  • Sucker Punch are working on at least 2 games.
  • Guerilla are working on at least 2 games.
  • Insomniac are working on at least 3 games.
  • Naughty Dog have at least 3 on the go.
  • Firesprite have at least 3 on the go.
  • Bluepoint are rumoured to be working on two releases.
  • Bend have a new IP.
  • PixelOpus are working on a new game.

Partners
  • From Software are rumoured to be working on a PlayStation studios game.
  • Deviation games are working on a new IP.
  • Haven are working on a new IP
  • Kojima Productions are rumoured to be working on a PlayStation Studios game.
  • Firewalk are working on a new IP.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Is Jade actually a good producer/leader, or have games been successfully completed in spite of her leadership? It seems like a lot of her projects after Ubisoft have failed.

All we know is that she gets hired by the most successful companies on planet earth quickly and repeatedly.

She's been employed by bigger players, more consistently, than Antonio Brown has in the NFL. Antonio Brown is a good WR.
 
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People saying Gaas is bad never played Path of exile.That game is outstanding and a complete game with huge content which gets constantly new content.I only bought premium stastaps for a few dollars that’s all.Sony is smart they won’t make an mobile phone like Gaas Game.people should atleast wait and see and decide after instead saying pass or doa.Be positive 👍🏻 And yes I vote good news.Who knows maybe it will be an amazing game like path of Exile maybe something like Dragons Dogma which gets constantly new monsters quests that would be like a dream.
 
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Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
People saying Gaas is bad never played Path of exile.That game is outstanding and a complete game with huge content which gets constantly new content.I only bought premium stastaps for a few dollars that’s all.Sony is smart they won’t make an mobile phone like Gaas Game.people should atleast wait and see and decide after instead saying pass or doa.Be positive 👍🏻 And yes I vote good news.Who knows maybe it will be an amazing game like path of Exile maybe something like Dragons Dogma which gets constantly new monsters quests that would be like a dream.

Path of Exile was a finished game with tons of content that moved to GAAS content.

Much different from a game that started as a GAAS from the outset. Every last GAAS game released over the past 5 years have been half finished, poorly thought out games that take *years* to reach the same amount of content as any normal non-GAAS game.
 
All we know is that she gets hired by the most successful companies on planet earth quickly and repeatedly.

She's been employed by bigger players, more consistently, than Antonio Brown has in the NFL. Antonio Brown is a good WR.
That sounds like a false equivalency, honestly. The hiring process in the corporate world is a clusterfuck of corporate politics, "hype," and general incompetence. Jade Raymond is her own brand, and even though her success post Ubisoft is questionable at best, apparently her stardom in the industry is enough to get her employed repeatedly.
 
Path of Exile was a finished game with tons of content that moved to GAAS content.

Much different from a game that started as a GAAS from the outset. Every last GAAS game released over the past 5 years have been half finished, poorly thought out games that take *years* to reach the same amount of content as any normal non-GAAS game.
Hopefully Sony will release a finished or nearly finished game with lots of content.
 
So MS is going single player big games with monthly subscriptions on Gamepass, meanwhile Sony is pivoting to GAAS multiplayer games.

I much prefer Microsoft's direction. I get that they have the Cod franchise but they have a lot of studios that arnt developing GAAS games. If Sony is rumoured to be making 10, than no thanks.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
That sounds like a false equivalency, honestly. The hiring process in the corporate world is a clusterfuck of corporate politics, "hype," and general incompetence. Jade Raymond is her own brand, and even though her success post Ubisoft is questionable at best, apparently her stardom in the industry is enough to get her employed repeatedly.

So either Ubisoft, EA, Sony, and Google all believe she's a talented creative manager or...

Message board gamers, with zero experience in game development, are well suited to know her value because they Googled her Wikipedia work history.

I guess theoretically both are possible.
 
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