Sony Entertainment to buy industry veteran's Haven gaming studio

[NEW YORK] Sony Group said it's buying Montreal-based video game development studio Haven Entertainment Studios, led by industry veteran Jade Raymond. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed in a statement on Monday (Mar 21).

Founded a year ago with an initial investment from Sony Interactive Entertainment, Haven includes game creators with more than a decade of experience working on some of the industry's most popular games. Raymond, who previously founded Ubisoft Entertainment's Toronto studio and Motive Studios, is one of the creative forces behind the Assassin's Creed franchise.

Haven Studios is already working on its first project for Sony's PlayStation, what Sony described as a live experience "built upon a systemic and evolving world focused on delivering freedom, thrill, and playfulness".

Haven's focus "on creating an original AAA multiplayer game will not only flex the power of PlayStation 5 but will further expand upon the diverse catalogue of gaming experiences that can only be found on PlayStation", said Jim Ryan, president and chief executive officer of Sony Interactive.

The video game industry has been undergoing a wave of consolidation this year. In January, Sony bought the developer Bungie, the US video game developer behind the popular Destiny and Halo franchises, for US$3.6 billion. Microsoft is scooping up Activision Blizzard for US$69 billion in its biggest-ever acquisition, and Take-Two Interactive Software has agreed to acquire mobile game maker Zynga for US$11 billion.

With a team of more than 60 employees, Haven Studios will be the 18th studio to join the PlayStation Studios family, according to Sony. The studio operations will continue to be run by the management team at Haven in close collaboration with PlayStation Studios' leadership team. BLOOMBERG