Jade Raymond
Jade Raymond (2023)
Born
Jade Raymond

(1975-08-28) 28 August 1975 (age 48)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Alma materMcGill University (B.S.)
EmployerHaven Studios

Jade Raymond (born 28 August 1975) is a Canadian video game producer, best known for helping create the Assassin's Creed and Watch Dogs franchises, as well as building Ubisoft Toronto and Motive Studio. In March 2021, Raymond announced the founding of a new independent development team called Haven Studios, which was later acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment in July 2022, making them a first-party developer for PlayStation Studios.

Early life and Career

Jade Raymond was born 28 August 1975 in Montreal.[1][2] She graduated from St. George's School of Montreal in 1992 and Marianopolis College in 1994. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from McGill University in 1998, where she majored in computer science.[3]

Raymond's first post-university job was as a programmer for Sony, where she eventually helped in the creation of Sony Online's first Research and Development group. This led to Electronic Arts where she worked as a producer on The Sims Online. From 2003 to 2004, Raymond joined the G4 program The Electric Playground as a part-time correspondent, working with Victor Lucas, Tommy Tallarico and Julie Stoffer. In 2004, she started working for Ubisoft Montreal, where she led the creation of the first Assassin's Creed game. Raymond went on to become executive producer on Assassin's Creed II, and was executive producer of new IP at Ubisoft Montreal, which included Watch Dogs and The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot.[4]

Raymond in 2012

In January 2010, Raymond moved to Toronto to build Ubisoft Toronto, in the role of managing director.[5] In October 2014, she left Ubisoft.[6]

In July 2015, Raymond announced that she had joined Electronic Arts and formed Motive Studio, based in Montreal. She was also to be in charge of Visceral Games, located in California, where she worked with games designer and writer Amy Hennig on Star Wars games,[7][8] and also developed new original IP.[9] Raymond is also on the Board of Directors of WIFTI, an organization dedicated the advancement of women across film, television and screen-based industries.[10]

In January 2018, Raymond was named to the board of directors for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.[11] In July 2018, she was recognized for "her trailblazing endeavours across her 20-year career" with the Develop Vanguard Award.[12] In October 2018, she received the Pioneer Award from the Fun & Serious Game Festival, recognizing her "contributions to the industry as a producer of games that are considered a turning point in the industry".[citation needed] Raymond was one of few video game executives named in the Variety 2018 and 2019 list of 500 most influential business leaders shaping the global entertainment industry.[13]

In October 2018, Raymond left Motive Studio, alluding to a "top secret project".[14][15] In March 2019, Raymond announced that she had joined Google as a vice president; during the 2019 Game Developers Conference, Google affirmed that she would be heading Google's Studios, Stadia Games and Entertainment, to create exclusive content for Google's Stadia streaming service.[16] In February 2021, Raymond announced her departure from Stadia Games and Entertainment, as well as Google, concurrent with Google's announcement of the wind down for their in-house Stadia Games and Entertainment development studio.[17]

In March 2021, Raymond founded Haven Studios, a new independent development studio, with Sony Interactive Entertainment investing in the studio to create a new original IP for PlayStation.[18] In July 2022, Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired Haven Studios, making them a first-party developer for PlayStation Studios.[19]

Games

Year Title Company Role Ref.
2002 The Sims Online Electronic Arts Producer [14]
2007 Assassin's Creed Ubisoft [20][21]
2009 Assassin's Creed II Executive producer [21]
Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines [21]
2013 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist [21]
2014 Watch Dogs [14][21]
Assassin's Creed Unity Managing Director [4]
Far Cry 4 [4]
2015 The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot Ubisoft Montreal Executive producer [14]
2017 Star Wars: Battlefront II Electronic Arts SVP Group General Manager [4]
TBA Fairgame$ Haven Studios [22]

References

  1. ^ Bjørn-Hansen, Søren (6 November 2007). "En kvinde blandt nørder". Metro International (in Danish). Archived from the original on 1 June 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  2. ^ Bjørn-Hansen, Søren (8 November 2007). "En spelproducent som sticker ut från mängden". Metro International (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
  3. ^ "JADE RAYMOND, BSc'98". McGill Alumni Live 365. McGill University. 27 October 2009. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d "Jade Raymond Video Game Credits". MobyGames. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  5. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (6 September 2013). "How to build a AAA studio". Gameindustry.biz. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  6. ^ Editor, Brendan Sinclair Managing (20 October 2014). "Jade Raymond leaving Ubisoft". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 4 January 2024. ((cite web)): |last= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ Raymond, Jade. "Motive Studios: Motive, Means And Opportunity". Electronic Arts. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  8. ^ Grosso, Robert (14 July 2015). "Jade Raymond Joins Electronic Arts; Heads New Studio". TechRaptor. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  9. ^ Schreier, Jason (17 October 2017). "EA Shuts Down Visceral Games". Kotaku. Gizmodo Media Group. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  10. ^ Williams, Jeff (13 July 2015). "Jade Raymond Announces Motive Studios, Working On Hennig's Star Wars Project". Wccftech. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Electronic Arts' Jade Raymond Joins Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' Board of Directors" (PDF). Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  12. ^ Taylor, Haydn (12 July 2018). "Ninja Theory dominates the Develop Awards". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  13. ^ "Variety 500". Variety. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  14. ^ a b c d Bailey, Dustin (22 October 2018). "Jade Raymond leaves EA Motive, the studio helping put Visceral's Star Wars back together". PCGamesN. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  15. ^ Handrahan, Matthew (10 December 2018). "Jade Raymond: The ecosystem has changed, and games need to catch up". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  16. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (12 March 2019). "Jade Raymond appointed new VP of Google". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  17. ^ "Focusing on Stadia's future as a platform, and winding down SG&E". Google. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  18. ^ "PlayStation invests in Jade Raymond's new independent studio Haven". Gamesindustry.biz. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  19. ^ Kerr, Chris (11 July 2022). "Sony has closed its Haven Studios acquisition". Game Developer. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  20. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (20 October 2014). "Jade Raymond leaving Ubisoft". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  21. ^ a b c d e Leonard, Matt (22 October 2018). "Head of EA Motive Jade Raymond Leaves EA". GameRevolution. Evolve Media, LLC. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  22. ^ "Fairgame$ Is the First Game From Jade Raymond's Haven Studios". 24 May 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.

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