An Announcement Could Be Happening Real Soon
If all goes as planned, Microsoft could be getting ready to acquire Playground Games, the studio behind the popular Forza Horizon racing series.
As picked up by WCCFTech, the UK Government’s Companies House website reveals a PDF document that shows a Keith Ranger Dolliger being appointed as a new director of Playground Games on May 29th. The Companies House website is owned by the UK Government and has details for all registered companies in the country.
So just who is Keith Ranger Dolliger? Thanks to a quick Google search, Keith Dolliger is the Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Business and Corporate Development at Microsoft. He specialises in mergers and acquisitions for Microsoft and has been appointed the director of many companies that Microsoft eventually acquired including Rare, Lionhead, Skype, and LinkedIn.
Purchasing Playground Games would be a good get by the tech giant given how close their relationship is. The Forza Horizon series has been incredibly successful and is arguably the best racing series in the industry. All of Playground’s Games have been released exclusively on Xbox and PC. Next week the companies are expected to announce Forza Horizon 4 on stage at E3.
It’s also been heavily rumoured that Playground Games opened up a second studio has been working on an unannounced open-world action RPG. They’ve hired developers who’ve worked on GTA V, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and MGS V: The Phantom Pain. The obvious answer is that the game in development is Fable 4 but it’s just speculation for now.
While nothing is confirmed, the Companies House document is a pretty big clue that an official announcement is probably right around the corner.
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