Haven Entertainment Studios is a new studio, formed under former Stadia Games & Entertainment VP Jade Raymond. She’s an accomplished gaming industry professional with years of experience, who has now been tasked by PlayStation to create a brand new IP for the company. Many consider this new IP to be in safe hands with Jade Raymond, as she has directly been involved with the creation and development of several iconic franchises over the past 20 years. The Canadian creator’s name might not be the most familiar to some, but it’s possible that a significant portion of gamers would be familiar with her work.
Most recently, Jade Raymond was working on Stadia, where she was in charge of heading up Stadia’s first-party game development and creating exclusive content for the platform. Google Stadia’s in-house development shut down in February 2021, and along with it, Jade Raymond’s role there. She has overseen the creation of the Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs franchises, in addition to working on other significant Ubisoft and EA games. Jade has had a decorated career, with no shortages of hits the success of which she was directly involved with.
Jade’s earliest gaming industry credit came from her role as a producer for The Sims Online, an MMO spin-off of the venerable Sims franchise. The Sims Online received a mixed reaction when it launched. EA was planning to relaunch it under the name EA-Land, but a year after this rebranding was announced, it was ultimately canceled. The Sims series went from strength to strength and increased in popularity over time. For Jade Raymond, she would move on to arguably bigger things.
Assassin’s Creed is perhaps the most pivotal accolade in Jade Raymond’s career. She was co-creator of the very first Assassin’s Creed game, and while the game itself received moderately positive reviews upon release, it spawned a modern phenomenon in the gaming industry. Assassin’s Creed has become one of the most enduring franchises in video games and continues to be extremely popular to this day. The original game was released in 2007, and Jade Raymond had a pivotal road in its creation.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a confusing entry in the series for many gamers, but it’s heralded by many as one of the greatest video games of all time. Released in 2008, Guns of the Patriots was considered a technical masterpiece for the time, making the most of the PlayStation 3 console. It was seen as a refinement of the series and changed a few key hallmarks, introducing more open gameplay and enhanced replayability in comparison to the older games of the series. Jade Raymond was a managing director of Metal Gear Solid 4, meaning she was one of the key individuals throughout the process of creating the game.
Jade Raymond returned to Ubisoft for Assassin’s Creed 2 in an executive producer role. The second Assassin’s Creed game is still revered by fans of the franchise as one of the best in the series. This sequel introduced Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who arguably remains the most popular protagonist the franchise has seen so far. Assassin’s Creed 2 is widely considered to be the breakthrough title for the series, having popularized the franchise to a level it hasn’t regressed from. There have been many Assassin’s Creed games since this 2009 sequel, but perhaps none are appreciated more warmly than this.
Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines was a spin-off of the main series and it was launched on PlayStation Portable. Bloodlines featured the return of Altair, the protagonist of the first Assassin’s Creed game. The PSP game didn’t receive critical acclaim and was considered to be too skewed towards combat, but was widely considered to be a good demonstration of what was possible on the PSP platform. Jade Raymond served as an executive producer for this game as well, marking the third Assassin’s Creed game credit in her career so far.
Splinter Cell: Blacklist is a well-regarded title in the series, but perhaps not as much as the likes of Chaos Theory or even the inaugural game. The game offered the usual stealth options, in addition to a wider variety of options to tackle gameplay sections. Jade Raymond was an executive producer, and so far is the only Splinter Cell game she has worked on in her career.
Watch Dogs was a huge new IP for Ubisoft when it was released in 2014. The game was generally well-received, though there were claims that Watch Dogs received a visual downgrade in comparison to its pre-release marketing material. At this time Jade Raymond was the executive producer of new IP over at Ubisoft, which included the creation of Watch Dogs.
Assassin’s Creed Unity is the final game of the series that has credited Jade Raymond thus far, where she served as managing director. Assassin’s Creed Unity is infamous for its launch, which saw it marred by a slew of technical issues. Post-release, Ubisoft offered compensation to its fans in the form of a free game. The free game could be chosen from a selection of Ubisoft titles, and the company would go on to examine its development practices in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Some fans even state that Assassin’s Creed Unity is in far better condition today than it was on launch.
Far Cry 4 once again saw Jade Raymond in a managing director role. The fourth main entry in the first-person shooter series capitalized on the popularity of Far Cry 3 and adapted its model of an exotic location with an insane villain to a whole new location. Far Cry 4 was a well-received entry in the franchise, even if it didn’t quite reach the critical heights of its predecessor.
The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot was a free-to-play action RPG game that unfortunately didn’t have a long lifespan. It received some decent reviews but ultimately its services were shut down, just over a year after its full release. A mobile version of the game was released on iOS and Android devices, meaning that there is still some life in the game. Jade Raymond served as executive producer on the game during her stint heading up new IP at Ubisoft.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 was the second release in the rebooted Battlefront series and was subject to a lot of criticism over loot box and microtransaction practices when it was released. With that said, Battlefront 2 is considered to be a different game now after it has received numerous free updates. To date, this is the latest game Jade Raymond’s name is attached to until her new IP with Sony is launched.
Compared to when she joined Google, Jade Raymond is in a very different position with Haven Studios now. Her experience in leading new franchises makes Haven Studios’ inaugural game a strong addition to the PlayStation lineup. Undoubtedly, fans of her previous work will be keeping an on what’s to come with her new, Sony-exclusive IP. Haven Entertainment Studios and their new game could end up being a big win for Sony on PS5.
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