Sony Interactive Entertainment has canceled Fairgame$, the multiplayer heist shooter being developed by Haven Interactive Studios for PlayStation 5 and PC. The decision follows a large-scale playtest involving thousands of players that reportedly failed to meet Sony’s expectations for player feedback and retention.
The cancellation was revealed on November 10, 2026, in an exclusive Bloomberg report by Jason Schreier, who reviewed an internal email sent to PlayStation employees. Sony subsequently confirmed to Bloomberg that the decision would not result in job cuts at Haven Interactive Studios. Instead, the developer will transition to supporting other studios within Sony’s PlayStation organization.
In the internal email, PlayStation executives Sean Decker and John Doyle explained that the latest playtest demonstrated encouraging operational performance but failed to achieve the company’s targets for player engagement and retention.
The executives acknowledged that the development team had demonstrated strong operational execution, including readiness to operate the game as an ongoing service and engagement with its testing community. However, player feedback and retention metrics were mixed and did not reach the goals established for the project.
Sony also identified difficult market conditions in the competitive player-versus-player shooter genre as a contributing factor. Taken together, the playtest results and broader market challenges led the company to discontinue development rather than proceed toward release.
Fairgame$ was originally announced during the PlayStation Showcase in May 2023 as Haven Studios’ first original game. The project was designed as a competitive multiplayer heist experience in which players would join crews, infiltrate restricted locations and steal valuables from wealthy targets.
Haven described the game as a modern interpretation of the heist genre, combining competitive PvP gameplay with emergent sandbox mechanics. Players were expected to coordinate their approaches, compete over valuable loot and develop different strategies for completing robberies.
The game was also part of Sony’s broader investment in live-service multiplayer experiences, which aimed to expand PlayStation’s portfolio beyond traditional single-player releases.
Development had already encountered difficulties before the cancellation. In May 2025, Haven founder Jade Raymond departed the studio following an external playtest that reportedly raised concerns among some developers about the game’s reception and progress.
Bloomberg reported at the time that Fairgame$ had been delayed from its previously targeted 2025 release window into 2026. Game director Daniel Drapeau subsequently left Haven for WB Games Montreal, adding another leadership departure during the project’s development.
More recently, a competitive action shooter operating under the codename Project Espresso surfaced through a closed playtest registration page in September 2026. The project was widely associated with Fairgame$ because of its similar heist-focused gameplay, although Sony did not publicly confirm the connection.
The Project Espresso description outlined a third-person PvPvE experience in which competing teams would infiltrate high-security locations, retrieve valuable cargo and attempt to escape before their rivals. The test supported both PlayStation 5 and PC, matching the platforms originally announced for Fairgame$.
However, it has not been independently established that Project Espresso was the same large-scale playtest referenced in Sony’s November cancellation decision.
Despite the project’s termination, Haven Interactive Studios will continue operating under PlayStation. Sony’s spokesperson confirmed that there would be no layoffs directly associated with the cancellation, with the studio’s developers reassigned to supporting other teams within the organization.
The company has not identified which PlayStation studios or projects Haven will assist, and no timetable has been announced for its transition into the new role.
Fairgame$ now joins several canceled projects from Sony’s live-service expansion. The company previously discontinued development of multiplayer games at Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games, while Concord was taken offline shortly after its 2024 release and its developer, Firewalk Studios, subsequently closed.
Sony has also experienced contrasting results across its multiplayer portfolio, with Helldivers 2 demonstrating the commercial potential of cooperative live-service games while other projects struggled to establish sustainable audiences.
The cancellation means Fairgame$ will not receive its planned PlayStation 5 or PC release. For Haven Studios, the decision ends development of the competitive heist shooter more than three years after its original announcement, while preserving the studio as part of Sony’s wider development organization.
