Forza Horizon developer Playground Games was acquired by Microsoft along with Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, and Undead Labs. And Gavin Raeburn, the studio’s director, recently discussed why the team decided to become a part of Microsoft Studios at E3 2018.
“We’ve built up a great relationship and a huge amount of trust with Turn 10 and Xbox over the last eight years,” he said. “We both have a shared vision to create the very best experiences we can for our fans.”
“So now that we are developing two major titles for Xbox [possibly Fable according to rumours], becoming first party felt like a natural progression for us. It’s a change that I believe will enable us to make even greater games in the future.”
Raeburn also discussed how the shift will affect the studio’s development timelines, and the studio’s new goals following the shift.
“We can also take a longer view on our projects and be more strategic with our plans for tools and tech, which can be difficult as an independent studio where securing that next project is all-important, and growth isn’t easy.
“I really do believe our best years are ahead of us. Our goal until recently for the studio was to become the best independent developer in the world. But now that we’ve been acquired, we want to leverage the additional support of Microsoft to become best developer in the world. A lofty goal, but one I think we could only ever achieve as part of Microsoft.”
Forza Horizon 4 is out October 2 for Xbox One and PC as a Play Anywhere title.