PlayStation finalises Haven Studios acquisition

The official PlayStation Twitter account made the announcement earlier today (July 11), confirming that the agreement to acquire Haven Studios has finally closed, after it was announced in March of this year.

“It’s official! The agreement to acquire Haven has closed. Welcome to the PlayStation Studios family, Haven Studios,” wrote the account.

It’s official! The agreement to acquire Haven has closed. Welcome to the PlayStation Studios family, @HavenStudiosInc! pic.twitter.com/rLFjsRYWdy

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) July 11, 2022

Haven Studios is yet to release its first game, but it is headed up by industry veteran Jade Raymond, who helped create both the Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs franchises. The studio has also caught the eye of PS4 and PS5 systems architect Mark Cerny, with Raymond talking about his involvement in a new GamesIndustry.biz interview:

“So [Mark Cerny] is one of the main reasons we’re investing so much in R&D, and in this very senior engineering team. It’s not just tied to cloud but also some more forward-thinking R&D,” said Raymond. “I’m not able to say too much now, but that’s obviously one of the other things that’s been a big attractor and is exciting to our team with PlayStation. Of course Mark Cerny is kind of like a rockstar, too, so being able to collaborate with him is really exciting.”

Before the acquisition was officially announced, it was revealed that Haven is working with PlayStation on a “persistent and evolving online” title for the company.

Another founder of Haven Studios, Paola Jouyaux, said of the game that “these environments are not just games, they are also social platforms for many players. It has to stay that way. To last, a game must remain pleasant to visit.”

In other news, Ubisoft is delisting a number of other games, including the likes of SPlinter Cell Blacklist.