Jade Raymond was one of the countless developers who became unemployed last month when Google abruptly closed its Stadia game development studios after a hectic launch just two years earlier. Now, the former Ubisoft executive who was instrumental in creating the Assassin’s Creed and Watch dogs franchises are starting a new studio of their own, with Sony and PlayStation backing it up.
Raymond named his new independent store Haven Studios. The Montreal-based studio has no other team announced, but in his announcement posting on PlayStation Blog, Raymond writes that “many of the talented game developers I’ve worked with for years (and I love them so much!) Are coming together to do what we are most passionate about ”, which, hopefully, means that Haven will be a landing pad for Stadia’s talents left out after the sudden closure of Stadia Games and Entertainment.
Since this is just a studio ad, there is no game to talk about yet, and it probably won’t be for some time. But given that Raymond has spent the past few years in unsuccessful attempts to launch a game, it is not hard to imagine that Haven Studios will be very eager to deliver one as soon as possible.