Forza Horizon and Forza Motorsport development teams merged, ending Turn 10
Add us as your preferred news source on Google Add Traxion to your "Preferred Sources" on Google to make sure you get your sim racing news always from a trusted source ← Forza Horizon 6 • News 22 September 2026 — 2…
Add Traxion to your "Preferred Sources" on Google to make sure you get your sim racing news always from a trusted source
← Forza Horizon 6 • News22 September 2026 — 2 minute read
By Thomas Harrison-Lord
The Forza racing game series has long had two development teams: Turn 10 Studios and Playground Games. It now has one, merging the two groups to work on the future of Forza and Fable titles.
The former US outfit is where the series originated, with 2005’s Forza Motorsport and seven further titles in the franchise.
Meanwhile, the latter UK-based team is famed for creating Forza Horizon, the open-world spin-off that in later years overtook Motorsport to become the preeminent Forza series.
However, the development structure hasn’t just been Turn 10 on Motorsport and Playground on Horizon. As the American team were the series originator, it was situated above Playground, despite Horizon’s success.
Its stature has changed in recent years, with the Microsoft-owned unit undergoing significant job losses a year ago following the less-than-stellar reception to 2023’s Forza Motorsport reboot. It confirmed the cessation of new content and features for that title in December 2025.
Now, Turn 10’s powers are seemingly further diminished, following this merger.
Playground, meanwhile, has two teams: One for Horizon and one for the long-delayed Fable, set for a release in February 2027.
“Playground and Turn 10 will come together as one studio focused on the Forza and Fable franchises,” read the statement.
“These two studios have been creative and franchise partners for over a decade, and today’s changes will formally move their work into one team.”
This newly structured team doesn’t appear to have a fresh name, simply believed to continue under the Playground moniker. If so, it marks the effective end of Turn 10 after over 21 years.
Forza Horizon 6 was released earlier this year to rapturous reviews, although some of its post-release content has been questioned. At least two expansions are expected through the game’s lifecycle.
In a post entitled ‘Continuing Our Reset’ by Matt Booty, Chief Content Officer at Xbox, it was also confirmed that developer Ninja Theory (Senua/Hellblade) is set to close. 268 jobs at Halo Studios will be lost, alongside Activision now taking control of that franchise.
Gran Turismo 7 • News Two new stealth cars up for grabs in Gran Turismo 7 4 days ago The Crew Motorfest • News The Crew Motorfest to add free island expansion and semi-trucks in Year 4 5 days ago Geoff Crammond Racing • News Geoff Crammond’s Grand Prix rereleases to be as ‘easy to modify as possible’ amid licensing issues 1 week ago Equipment • News Moza launches two PS5 and PS4-compatible sim racing wheelbases 6 days ago Le Mans Ultimate • News Le Mans Ultimate V1.4.2 patch notes: Over 90 new liveries and online fixes dominate new update 1 day ago