Haven Studio's AAA PlayStation game sounds a lot like Dreams

By Kes Eylers-Stephenson,

PlayStation partnered with the Jade Raymond-led Haven Studio last year for its as of yet unannounced project. The founder, Raymond herself, has now finally given a touch of insight into what its first game will look like.

The website gamesindustry.biz has introduced a new series of interviews called fireside chats, where Chris Dring has been interviewing some big-wigs of the games industry (thanks, PSU). One of them was Jade Raymond, who has been constructing a new development team up in Montreal with PlayStation as investors. We have known very little about Haven's new project, other than the ex-Ubisoft talent the team has been scooping up. Now Raymond has let us know a little more about what it is working on.

"There are three things that are really exciting me, which are also pillars for the way that we're thinking about things," Raymond says. "First is games as a social platform. The pandemic has proven that gameplay is the social glue that binds communities. [...] That is something that we really want to build and design for."

"The second thing is thinking about the 'remix generation'. It started a little while ago, there is this age of self-expression where we're designing our NikeID shoes, we're reading our friends' blogs rather than what our professional journalists are writing. And I think that has continued to go further with things like TikTok." Raymond acknowledges. "That's another thing that we're thinking about at the heart of this IP. It is beyond user-generated content, it is about taking that self-expression and remix concept to the next level."

The final thing that Raymond goes on to mention is the most exciting for PlayStation fans: creating a new IP. "Creating a new IP that is a world that can last for generations and becomes meaningful for people on a deeper level. But how do we create an IP that has that depth, but is designed to be owned by the fans from the start? [...] Now what we're thinking about is creating an IP where it's not just professional teams, but it is designed to be owned by the fans and can evolve through that."

We don't know about you a lot, but this sounds remarkably like Media Molecule's Dreams to us. There is plenty more in the interview and we would wholeheartedly recommend giving it a listen! Dring also spoke to PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan, if you are interested. What do you think about Haven's plans? Are you a member of the remix generation? Let us know in the comments below!

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Written by Kes Eylers-Stephenson

Editor Kes is our resident expert in PlayStation and other gaming news. He writes about exclusives like The Last of Us and God of War, PS Plus news, and his favourite games — The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed, and explosive racers — before an evening swim.