In a major blow to the gaming community, Sony's PlayStation has called off development on their live-service heist game, Fairgames. Announced back in 2023, the project was expected to deliver an immersive multiplayer experience, but it seems that the game did not meet internal expectations during a recent test. As a result, the team behind Fairgames will now focus on supporting other first-party projects within PlayStation.
The news comes after rumors surrounding Project Espresso, which resembled Fairgames in many ways and began advertising private playtests back in September. However, it appears that these tests did not yield fruitful results for the team. The decision to cancel Fairgames is a significant setback for PlayStation's live-service endeavors, following other failures such as Concord, The Last of Us Online, and an online God of War game.
Despite these disappointments, Helldivers 2 has been a notable success for the company. There is some hope that Bungie's revival of Destiny 2 could lead to better results, but Sony seems to be steering away from live-service games for now. The only other major live-service game on the horizon from PlayStation is 4:Loop, a new project from JJ Abrams' studio, Bad Robot. It remains to be seen if it will face a similar fate as Fairgames and other canceled titles.
As a freelancer for IGN's news team, Cade Onder covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.