Microsoft has officially merged Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios into a single development entity, consolidating its primary racing developers into one unified team under Xbox Game Studios.
The decision, confirmed through an internal memo by Xbox executive Matt Booty, joins the UK-based Playground Games—creators of the Forza Horizon open-world series—with the Redmond-based Turn 10 Studios, the team historically behind the Forza Motorsport simulation titles. Moving forward, the combined studio will focus its shared resources on maintaining the Forza franchise while assisting development on Playground’s upcoming 2027 reboot of Fable. Xbox has not yet clarified whether the newly formed entity will operate under a new brand identity or retain its original studio names.
This studio consolidation arrives as Xbox executes a broader reorganization across its first-party publishing lineup. Alongside the merger, Microsoft confirmed additional staff reductions, including lay-offs across Halo Studios and other internal development teams. Future entries in the Halo franchise will now be directed by a newly established team inside Activision, leaving Halo Studios with a scaled-back crew dedicated primarily to supporting existing titles like Halo: Campaign Evolved. According to internal statements, Xbox considers its overall organizational restructuring to be roughly three-quarters complete.
The merger follows a period of transition for both racing developers. Playground Games recently launched Forza Horizon 6 to critical acclaim, supporting the title with multiple major post-launch content updates while preparing its upcoming PlayStation 5 release. Conversely, Turn 10 Studios endured staff cutbacks during previous corporate lay-offs, with 2023’s Forza Motorsport entering a maintenance phase late last year that shifted its post-launch schedule toward automated event rotations rather than new content additions. By pooling the infrastructure of both studios, Xbox aims to streamline its ongoing production pipeline for future console releases.
