Sony's Internal Studios Struggling to Cope with Live-Service Strategy

Sony's big push into live-service games is currently experiencing a rough patch, with studios within the company struggling to meet expectations and high-profile departures casting doubt on the company's future. The company has been acquiring studios over the past few years to enhance its live service offerings, but the results have been disappointing so far.

When Sony acquired Bungie, at first, this choice seemed like a great win for PlayStation, but it quickly became a matter of debate. Some individuals think that Bungie's desire for independence didn't match with Sony's long-term plans. Many fans and industry professionals believed that Sony overpaid for the deal and received insufficient value in return. This made people question how the company made its decisions.

The next step was to acquire Concord, a company whose role was to develop a next-generation live service game. Sadly, Concord has shut down, leaving Sony with another purchase that didn't work out. The company most recently acquired Haven Studios, which is known for developing the upcoming game Fairgame$. There is still hope that this game could be the big hit that Sony wants its own live service projects to be, but early signs are not looking good.

It was reported that internal playtests for Fairgame$ earlier this year did not go well, which could indicate that there are issues with the concept or direction of the gameplay. Not long after the disappointing playtests, Haven's studio head, Jade Raymond, quit the company. This was seen by many as a bad sign for the studio's long-term stability and chances.

Daniel Drapeau, the creative head at Haven Studios, quietly quit the company not long ago, making things even worse. Drau had been with Haven since it began in 2021, which is almost four and a half years. He became the creative director at Warner Bros. Games Montreal in August 2025. There wasn't a lot of news about Drapeau's leaving, unlike Raymond's. Some people think that this is a hint that leaders may be leaving the organization secretly due to problems, rather than in a public manner.

Analysts and people who work at Sony think that these exits are signs of bigger problems with the way the company handles its live services. There are growing concerns that the company's culture and project management may not fully align with delivering high-quality multiplayer experiences, despite the company's continued investment in the genre.

Sony is shifting its focus from traditional single-player, story-driven experiences to live services. These were the kinds of games that helped make PlayStation famous in previous console generations. Some people argue that this shift has created a generation of wasted potential, where money and skill are being invested in projects that may not be as popular or well-received as games like The Last of Us or God of War.

If past purchases are any indication, Haven Studios and Fairgame$ may make the same mistakes in the future. The case of Bungie shows that even when companies are bought with good intentions, they may not always fit with Sony's overall goals. The closing of Concord shows how risky it can be to put a lot of money into live service projects that don't promise a return.

This is a very important time for PlayStation players. The studio's focus on live service hasn't yet paid off, and if management flaws aren't addressed, customers may lose faith in both the studio and Sony's long-term aspirations. Some people say that the personnel who approved these purchases should be questioned because frequent failures point to faults in the system rather than just one event. 

In the end, Sony's live service initiative is at a very important point. The company needs to reconsider how it manages multiplayer gaming while keeping the identity and quality that made PlayStation the standard for console gaming in the first place. This is because famous people are leaving, internal testing isn't working, and the company has a history of bad acquisitions. Until then, Fair Games and Haven Studios will stay a risky bet in a world full of failed projects.