More Than A Handful Of Former Stadia Now Working For Haven Entertainment Studios, Report Shares

While things do not appear to be getting worse for Stadia’s image, more continues to unravel for Google’s gaming division internally. Predating back to February of this year, it was revealed that Google would dismantle Stadia Games and Entertainment (SGE) as first-party lead Jade Raymond announces her departure from the company.

According to a later report from Kotaku, those familiar with the plan to shut down the Stadia internal network of studio told that the recent plans for Microsoft to acquire Bethesda is the prime suspect for Google’s decision. While Microsoft pursued the Fallout/Doom company, Google had plans to make the same move later in 2021. In extension, Typhoon Studios’ Journey to the Savage Planet 2 was also cancelled as a result by the decision.

Not to mention Harmonix’s upcoming project exclusive to Stadia, the firm told its plans would be carried through elsewhere later on. Google also was reported to spending millions for marketing deals to bring AAA releases to its platform upon entering so late into the market. But, the biggest hit happened to be when Sony Interactive Entertainment picked up Jade Raymond.

In that, Raymond formed Haven Entertainment Studios (HES). The new developer is working on a exclusive release for PlayStation. Knowing Raymond’s history in the industry is a true loss for Google. But, ResetEra user Cyberia uncovers more than a handful of Stadia staff migrating over to Haven Entertainment Studios.

Ultimately, six employees formerly working under Google are now at Raymond’s new studio: Sebastien Puel (SGE General Manager) now HES co-founder, Corey May (SGE Head of Creative Services & Publishing) now HES World/IP Director, Jonathan Dankoff (SGE Staff UX Researcher) now HES Insight Director, Erwann Le Rouzic & Francis Denoncourt (SGE Concept Artists) now at HES, and Pierre-Marc Bérubé (SGE Graphics Programmer) now HES Software Engineer.

While a surprise to say the least disregarding the unraveling state at Stadia, the learning follows the recent departure of Stadia Vice President and Head of Product as per 9to5Goolge. In a statement to the outlet, Google said, “We can confirm John is no longer with Google and we wish him well on his next step.” You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you surprised by the state of Stadia as Haven Entertainment Studios gathers more of its staff?

Source: ResetEra