Several Google Stadia staff members join Jade Raymond’s Sony-backed ‘Haven’ studio

After news broke earlier this week that Google Stadia’s product lead John Justice left the company, it’s been revealed that more names are on their way out. Several more staff members from Google Stadia, and specifically Stadia Games & Entertainment, have left the company to join “Haven,” a Sony-backed studio by their former boss, Jade Raymond.

When Google shut down its in-house studio, Stadia Games & Entertainment, the company also displaced hundreds of employees who were hired to develop games for that studio. That included the studio’s head, industry veteran Jade Raymond. Shortly afterward, Jade announced that she would start her own independent studio called “Haven,” which is backed by Sony/PlayStation.

This week, a thread on ResetEra highlighted that several former staff members from Google Stadia had officially left the company to join Haven Studios. The team members that have moved include the following, mostly departures from Stadia Games & Entertainment from the look of it.

• Sebastien Puel. former Stadia Games General Manager
• Corey May, former Stadia Head of Creative Services & Publishing at SG&E
• Jonathan Dankoff, former Stadia Staff UX Researcher at SG&E
• Erwann Le Rouzic, former Stadia Concept Artist at SG&E
• Francis Denoncourt, former Stadia Senior Concept Artist at SG&E
• Pierre-Marc Bérubé, former Stadia Graphics Programmer at SG&E

All of these former Stadia employees have listed Haven Studios as their new place of employment, most starting within the past five days. They’ve mostly moved into similar positions at Haven.

It’s important to note that these employees aren’t just now losing their positions. Stadia Games & Entertainment was effectively shut down as of February 1, leaving these employees hoping to find other positions within Google or move to a different company. The real story here is that these employees have now found their new spot and officially started their new jobs which is great for them and we hope for similarly great outcomes for everyone displaced by Google’s mismanaged SG&E venture.

Sounds like Jade Raymond’s “Haven” studio might be living up to its name.

More on Stadia:

• Jade Raymond forms ‘Haven’ studio after leaving Stadia, working on new PlayStation IP
• Stadia reportedly canceled projects including Savage Planet 2, Kojima exclusive
• Google shuts down efforts to publish first-party Stadia games as Jade Raymond departs