Private playtest planned for this weekend
- by Sammy Barker
We’re trying hard not to be too cynical until we’ve seen fresh gameplay footage, but you’ve got to ask what’s going on with PS Studios’ portfolio building these days.
Fresh from the muted release of Marathon – an extraction shooter with an eye-watering budget and Bungie talent behind it – Sony studio Haven is continuing to plug away at Fairgames, which sounds like… Well, an extraction shooter.
According to a report from Insider Gaming, citing documentation from an upcoming playtest, PlayStation has settled on a free-to-play format for this game, relying on in-game purchases as opposed to an upfront entry fee.
But ‘Cargo Heist’, one of the release’s flagship modes, doesn’t seem like it’ll be doing anything particularly different.
Here’s the framework of the mode, as outlined in the aforementioned document:
- Break In
- Find a vault code to gain access to the safe. Collect cash, upgrade your skillset, and make your play.
- Drill
- The vault is breached. Be the team to grab the cargo, or set up your strategy to intercept it.
- Extract
- The Cargo must be brought to the Extraction Site. Use the Extraction device to call your ride home. If your team fails to extract cargo, use another exit to Getaway.
There had been some reporting on the Sacred Symbols podcast recently that another playtest may be imminent, after a client was updated on Sony’s backend. Those sessions will take place this weekend, according to reporter Tom Henderson.
But don’t expect any of this to be officially acknowledged by PlayStation, unless it’s planning some kind of re-reveal. These are private player tests, taking place under strict NDAs – despite the leaks that are making their way online.
For us, Fairgames feels like it has an uphill battle.
When it was first announced during a PlayStation presentation in 2023, creative director Mathieu Leduc described it as a “thrilling competitive heist game where you join an underground movement to rob the ultra-rich and rebalance the scales”.
But the game got a worse reception than Concord, and the latter would go on to become one of the biggest first-party disasters in gaming history, when it was taken offline permanently after a dreadful debut.
Previous private player tests had criticised Fairgames for feeling “super clunky”, although it’s worth noting that the whole point of devs getting this kind of feedback is so it can improve the final experience, so you’d expect it to be constantly iterating on the game feel.
But from a portfolio perspective, we’re yet to really understand the addressable market this shooter is supposed to service.
Sony already has its work cut out shepherding Marathon to success; does it really need another extraction shooter?
ARC Raiders has proven that new competitors can enter a busy market and eke out a space for themselves, but how likely is that with Fairgames? Good luck with this one, Sony – you’re gonna need it.
[source insider-gaming.com]
