New AAA Studio Formed Out of Forza Horizon 5, EA Talent

@roadhog probably means it's not F2P.

@roadhog It will have a PREMIUM price point?…

That kind of sucks for Xbox. Playground is one of the few acquisitions that felt like a natural fit for them, so for some of the key talent behind Forza Horizon to leave like that is unfortunate.

@KaijuKaiser There is literally 0 point in ''getting your sh*t together'' when you can buy so many studios. The narrative around Microsoft games can change as soon as Starfield releases.

Not much point MS buying studios if the best talent like this walks out of them 😀

Maverick games wtf is dirk nowitzki luka doncic. tim hardaway jr. and spencer dinwiddie. Gonna be there😀😊.haha.word up son

I guess we'll see what happens with these guys. For most of XBOX's history, Forza is one of the only franchises I've ever been jealous that I don't get to play as a Sony guy.

@InternetUser

Imagine the chaos that will ensue if this vaporware called Starfield goes up in literal space dust. I hope it's everything Xbox fans hope it is for everyone's sake. Maybe Microsoft should put some extra effort into promoting the Game Pass release of Ghostwire: Tokyo instead. I hear its got bonus content.

Seems the developers are coming out of studios owned by huge publishers - Microsoft, EA and Tencent. Seems that if you keep buying up studios and imposing the natural conditions being a part of a big company implies, the talent will start to walk. You can see that happening at Embracer. Question is, how long until a big publisher comes along and these guys cash out with a big payday?

I hope this turns out to be great. There really needs to be some competition in the racer genre other than forza and need for speed. I like the forza games even though i dont own an xbox but i feel that E.A. bought codies and criterion because they were consistently bringing out the great racers (burnout and dirt series) that really showed that nfs was getting stale. And now we will never have another dirt game or a burnout..sucks..

@KaijuKaiser I would have loved to see Heavenly Sword 2 Sony really disappointed me with that. No Legend of Dragoon or new Heavenly Sword such a pity.

@Flaming_Kaiser Ninja theory is now with Microsoft, it's the same issue with The Order 1886, I'd love a sequel, but Ready at Dawn is owned by Meta.

Maybe Sony will allow an indie team to try to recreate/build on some of their legacy titles. Sony can maintain their publishing rights, but give the community a chance to rebuild these dead franchises...

On topic, this seems like a great studio for Sony to invest money in, and help the project, like they do with Deviation.

Hopefully, Playground sat down and announced that the location for Horizon 6 was some random country that nobody’s been asking for, and that prompted these guys to get together and create the game everyone wants - an open world Japanese street racer.

Damn, people did point out possibility of this happening when the acquisition spree started. What's the point of buying a gaming brand if all the talent leaves?

@KaijuKaiser exactly. ppl honestly shouldnt support xbox anymore. how many years of lies from phil, how many buyouts instead of making your own talent, how many years of buying series s and x consoles and still no next gen exclusives from xbox. like i regret buying my series s. ony bought it for bethesda stuff and still havent gotten a return for my investment. even gamepass isnt god tier like my friends tried to tell me it was. 250 games compared to over 800 on premium plus the exclusives have went downhill. halo and gears were both better on the 360 days compared to now

@InternetUser Starfield is still not an example of a game made after Microsoft's acquisition. Most games were already in-development when Microsoft got their hands on them. You can truly judge Microsoft's leadership when games are conceived and developed under Microsoft's management

@SerJosh97 Gamepass is a clutter magnet. It's filled with unappealing games like Gears(5 games), Halo (6 games) and forza which take count on the 250 games they have. Their only strong point is the addition of day one titles like A Plague Tale and Highonlife

@SamMR No one besides us cares about 'Microsoft's leadership'. They care about the games and Starfield will probably be popular for a decade

@InternetUser Starfield is going to be hot trash, I’d bet on it. People are going to apologize to Hello Games buy No Man’s Sky instead.

@Suda51ueda I don't want to come off as some Bethesda fanboy, but their games are unique. And the modding support is truly the main focus this time around,imo.

There is of course a chance that the game will be like Fallout 4 and be a little bit of a disappointment, but how are you going to complain when tens of thousands of SW,ST,Mass Effect etc fans start modding everything? It's not only goofy outfits, but voice acted questlines and completely new mechanics. Just google Enderal.

This is why Sony spent so much on Bungie. $1 billion was spent on Employee retention. We see this same thing happen all the time. Company buys Studio then talent up and leaves. Leaving the studio a shell of it former self. While everyone blames the buyer for “killing” the studio.

Some of the comments are exactly what I expect on a Playstation orientated site, but I always find it quite interesting when this happens. Suspect this will be a near-end gen release if they've only just founded.

What makes a game/studio AAA? What are the requirements?

How does a studio who doesn't even have staff get labeled AAA?? Release something and the response/reviews will decide. Until then you're nothing to me.

@playstation1995 i live in Dallas, so this made me laugh. Mavericks are my favorite team of course. Thanks for the laugh. GO MAVS!!!

@SamMR Fable and Perfect Dark will be the two i think your point will best attest to.

@Northern_munkey i loved MotorStorm so much on PS3. I miss that franchise. It would look incredible on PS5. The PS3 games still look decent.

@Green-Bandit. Haha you welcome playa.although im a boston Celtics fan.haha.jayson tatum word up son

I feel like I've heard this one before. It usually ends with a game that isn't quite as good as what they were producing initially.

@playstation1995 a good buddy of mine is a huge Celtics fan. Jayson Tatum is a monster. He or Luka should be MVP. Celtics have a great chance at getting back to the Finals. I like that they are one of the few teams in the league that play good defense. My Mavericks suck on Defense.

@Green-Bandit again another franchise thats dead in the water. Evolution were absorbed by codemasters who then released the brilliant onrush which you should checkout if you have not already and the ps5 version is just "storming" (pun intended.) And then E.A. bought codies and there dies all the great games..@Cikajovazmaj when you have great talent and you put them to work on generic cut and paste franchises its no surprise they jump ship and form their own companys where their artistic and creative minds are not shackled by people who just dont know how to make great games and are more concerned with looking cool and down with the generation of todays cultures..

@Northern_munkey i agree with that. Just s shame they couldn’t take what was great about that franchise and make it into something new. MotorStorm was the most fun I’ve had with a racer, even better than Forza Horizons, which is very good in its own rate. Can’t wait to see what Sony does this Gen, many many unknown games in development.

@NomNom I know they are at MS but i really would have liked a new part or even a remaster/Remake Nariko is one of my favorite characters.

The order 1886 was fun but I didn't do that much for me i looked fantastic but man the game need much more content and less cliffhangers to make me want it that much.

Been saying this for years. Making games is fundamentally different than most other businesses. You are getting the people with knowledge rather than the IP, location or technology. No one will care less about forza If mavericks game blows it away and will all emigrate accordingly. Similar to when champ man became football manager.

Buying a football team is more stable than buying a team full of creatives. It's in your nature to care about other things as well as your bank balance. Buy a car showroom you get the cars plus the loyalty of ongoing customers and location. All MS are getting if they buy a studio and everyone leaves is some PCs and an office that honestly could be anywhere in the world. If the glue disintegrates your left with the fluff in the departments who aren't productive on their own.

And Forza 4 + 5 are amazing yall. I'm currently playing 4 and it literally batters any other arcade racer in every conceivable way. Driving to Edinburgh has never felt so good.

I suppose this is why Sony paid so much to Bungie. Not just the studio but for the staff to stay with the company for a set amount of years. Playground is potentially losing a few solid members after becoming a premium AAA studio for Microsoft.