It looks like Sony is slowly learning its lesson when it comes to its live-service video game push, as the studio has cancelled yet another upcoming PlayStation project, Haven Studios’ multiplayer heist shooter, Fairgame$.
According to Bloomberg’s reports, the long-gestating online title has been axed three years after its initial announcement, although Sony had stated that no job cuts came as a result of the cancellation, and that the studio will instead “shift its focus to collaborating with other development teams across PlayStation Studios, while also exploring new creative opportunities.”
The report further explains that the game failed to deliver the results PlayStation expected after a recent playtest with “thousands of players”, which led to its decision to pull the plug. “While the test demonstrated strong operational excellence, live ops readiness and community engagement, player feedback and retention results were mixed and fell short of the goals we had set,” read an email to employees from PlayStation executives Sean Decker and John Doyle. “Combined with challenging market conditions in the PVP shooter genre, we have made the difficult decision to cease development on the game.”
Fairgame$ was announced at Sony’s PlayStation Showcase in May 2023, and was set to be a third-person multiplayer video game focusing on heists, with players assuming the role of members of an underground movement targeting and robbing millionaires, all while fighting off other players. Upon its announcement, many likened the game to Starbreeze Studios’ Payday franchise, although the game failed to garner much interest as audiences are already fatigued by Sony’s live-service push. The project has also seen numerous setbacks over the years, including the departure of key developers and other internal struggles.
Fairgame$’s cancellation marks yet another live-service failure for the studio, and follows the now-infamous Concord misfire, a hero shooter that completely failed to resonate with gamers and lasted for just two weeks before Sony cancelled the game and shuttered developer Firewalk Studios in October 2024. In addition, the studio also scrapped two other multiplayer titles, The Last of Us Online and a God of War online title, with the most recent live-service game from the studio being Bungie’s Marathon, which, despite receiving positive reviews, has been struggling to gain a substantial player base since launch.
Thankfully, it seems like the studio is finally moving away from the live-service format, as the only major multiplayer-focused game in its pipeline is 4:LOOP, the four-player co-op roguelike shooter from Bad Robot Games and Left 4 Dead creator Mike Booth, so it remains to be seen if this upcoming title will also share the same fate down the line.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
