Photo: Xbox
The Forza Horizon series has been in a league of its own for almost 11 years now, and that's for a bunch of good reasons. First off, it's an open-world game that always sounded and looked amazing, no matter what generation of Xbox it came out on. Then, the arcade-style gameplay makes it fun to play whether you're driving a Ford Transit van or a Koenigsegg Jesko. Much like the defunct Motorstorm, Horizon has a spirit of its own you won't find anywhere else.
Granted, the upcoming The Crew Motorfest will try to take a stab at Horizon's throne, which is great news, because healthy competition breeds creativity. Although some new info about Motorfest is long overdue at this point.
Since its January 31 reveal, we've only been privy to Ubisoft's radio silence, unfortunately, which doesn't necessarily mean bad news, but given that the company is in deep waters at the moment with delays and project cancelations, this lack of communication from them could indicate Motorfest hasn't escaped the clutches of Ubisoft's current internal chaos.
At the same time, it might just mean they're still on schedule with a 2023 release date, probably this fall, and they're waiting to reveal everything during Geoff Keighley's notorious Summer Game Fest show, where publishers gather 'round and present their latest and greatest titles. Seeing as this could very well go either way, let's get back to this mystery Horizon DNA two future games might also have.
According to sources from the industry, Playground Games (Horizon's developer) saw some key departures from the likes of Gavin Raeburn, one of the company's co-founders, and Mike Brown, the creative director from Forza Horizon 5.
Gavin went on to form his own company called Lighthouse Games and announced they were working on a new AAA "genre-defining franchise," while also saying the studio was on the "bleeding edge of game development." The wording sounds fancy enough just to raise an eyebrow, but apparently, Lighthouse Games is composed of 30 of Raeburn's former colleagues, among which are "key founding members."
Gavin didn't say anything else about the type of game they're building, but it wouldn't be part of a tin foil hat conspiracy to say that whatever they're cooking, it could end up a banger of an arcade racing game, although it's most likely 3-5 years away.
Mike Brown, the other Horizon 5's creative lead who left, is now at the helm of Maverick Games, working on an announced AAA open-world game. The company started with 10 employees but aims to have as many as 140 people working on their project or projects. Currently, they're looking to fill 25 open spots including Game Designer, Level Designer, Lead Gameplay Engineer, Concept Artist, and a bunch of others.
Judging by everything the ex-Playground Games devs have said, it seems like their titles won't be out until or after the yet to be announced Forza Horizon 6 hits the digital shelves, but it's great to know that Horizon won't be left unchallenged.
Since its January 31 reveal, we've only been privy to Ubisoft's radio silence, unfortunately, which doesn't necessarily mean bad news, but given that the company is in deep waters at the moment with delays and project cancelations, this lack of communication from them could indicate Motorfest hasn't escaped the clutches of Ubisoft's current internal chaos.
At the same time, it might just mean they're still on schedule with a 2023 release date, probably this fall, and they're waiting to reveal everything during Geoff Keighley's notorious Summer Game Fest show, where publishers gather 'round and present their latest and greatest titles. Seeing as this could very well go either way, let's get back to this mystery Horizon DNA two future games might also have.
According to sources from the industry, Playground Games (Horizon's developer) saw some key departures from the likes of Gavin Raeburn, one of the company's co-founders, and Mike Brown, the creative director from Forza Horizon 5.
Gavin went on to form his own company called Lighthouse Games and announced they were working on a new AAA "genre-defining franchise," while also saying the studio was on the "bleeding edge of game development." The wording sounds fancy enough just to raise an eyebrow, but apparently, Lighthouse Games is composed of 30 of Raeburn's former colleagues, among which are "key founding members."
Gavin didn't say anything else about the type of game they're building, but it wouldn't be part of a tin foil hat conspiracy to say that whatever they're cooking, it could end up a banger of an arcade racing game, although it's most likely 3-5 years away.
Mike Brown, the other Horizon 5's creative lead who left, is now at the helm of Maverick Games, working on an announced AAA open-world game. The company started with 10 employees but aims to have as many as 140 people working on their project or projects. Currently, they're looking to fill 25 open spots including Game Designer, Level Designer, Lead Gameplay Engineer, Concept Artist, and a bunch of others.
Judging by everything the ex-Playground Games devs have said, it seems like their titles won't be out until or after the yet to be announced Forza Horizon 6 hits the digital shelves, but it's great to know that Horizon won't be left unchallenged.
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