Perhaps we should have predicted last night’s PS Showcase would disappoint when Sony opted to open with the irritatingly named Fairgame$, a multiplayer competitive heist game from the recently acquired Haven. This title has been criticised for looking like generic Ubisoft fodder, but when you consider the team is made up of ex-Ubisoft Montreal employees, including founder Jade Raymond, perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
While it’s obviously far too early to draw any conclusions from a CGI teaser trailer, we’ve been struck by how uncharacteristically tone deaf this title appears to be. On the PS Blog, creative director Mathieu Leduc describes the PS5 and PC release as a “modern-day Robin Hood” style affair, where you “trespass inside forbidden locations around the world, fill your pockets like a kid in a candy store, and unravel the nefarious plans of untouchable billionaires”.
The kicker appears to be that while robbing the rich, you’ll have to put down fellow peasants, as this is a PvP game where you’ll presumably be facing off against rival pickpockets to secure the spoils. This all strikes us as incredibly tone deaf in 2023, especially during a cost of living crisis. We appreciate the game’s probably not trying to make any kind of political commentary, but the premise rubs us the wrong way.
