Sony has cancelled Fairgames, seemingly its last first-party live service game in development, as the PlayStation 5 reaches a sales milestone of over 100 million units.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the heist shooter, developed by Haven Studios, was cancelled following mixed feedback during a recent playtest. Originally announced in 2023, the game had undergone various reworks over the years, with plans to re-reveal it under a new name.
Reasons for cancellation
An email sent by PlayStation executives Sean Decker and John Doyle to employees reportedly read: 'While the test demonstrated strong operational excellence, live ops readiness and community engagement, player feedback and retention results were mixed and fell short of the goals we had set.'
'Combined with challenging market conditions in the PVP shooter genre, we have made the difficult decision to cease development on the game.'
A PlayStation spokesperson told Bloomberg there will be no job cuts at Haven Studios as a result of the cancellation. The studio will instead 'shift its focus to collaborating with other development teams across PlayStation Studios, while also exploring new creative opportunities'.
End of the live service era
If the MMO Horizon Steel Frontiers, developed by NCSoft, is not counted, Fairgames is Sony's last known live service project. The only other title, Horizon Hunters Gathering, is reportedly being overhauled to remove live service elements following negative feedback.
Sony has released some live service titles to modest success, including Helldivers 2 and Marathon, but the company's commitment to the strategy has caused more damage, including studio closures such as Bluepoint and Dark Outlaw Games.
The cancellation of Fairgames, while unfortunate for Haven, will hopefully spell the end of Sony's live service attempts. The company appears to be backtracking on several fronts, including shutting down mobile games and ending PC ports.
PS5 sales milestone
Despite a limited number of exclusive games during the PlayStation 5 generation, the console has sold very well, partly due to decreased competition from Xbox. New figures from Sony show the PlayStation 5 has sold over 100 million units as of November 10, 2026, an increase of roughly 2.1 million units since September 30.
While selling well, the PlayStation 5 is not matching the pace of its predecessor. The PlayStation 4 hit the same 100 million milestone in June 2019, five years and seven months after launch, whereas it has taken the PlayStation 5 just under six years.
There is a chance the PlayStation 5 could overtake the PlayStation 4 in lifetime sales, but it might rely on a big push from GTA 6. PlayStation 4 lifetime sales are over 117 million, and with the PlayStation 6 expected in 2028, the PlayStation 5 could have longer on the market. It very likely will not surpass lifetime sales of Sony's best-selling console, the PlayStation 2, which shifted over 160 million units.
