As reported by the Windows Central site, Gavin Raeburn has just left the studio he co-founded in 2010 and has been replaced by another co-founder, Trevor Williams, until now CEO. Prior to founding Playground Games, veteran Gavin Raeburn had no less than 24 years of experience on the clock at Codemasters. A programmer by training, he quickly donned the producer’s costume and was in charge of franchises DiRT, GRID and F1 upon leaving Codemasters in January 2010.
“After 12 years working on five award-winning Forza Horizon games, Gavin Raeburn is leaving Playground Games as studio director. A founding member of Playground Games, we thank Gavin for his leadership and contributions to the Forza franchise and wish him good luck. Co-Founder Trevor Williams to transition from GM to Studio Director with immediate effect, while the Playground Games team focuses on Forza Horizon 5 updates and Fable development.“, confirms a statement from Microsoft.
Quickly approached by Microsoft to design an open-world version of Forza Motorsport, Playground Games has become a major studio on the British scene, perfecting a formula that has been increasingly successful with each episode, until the recent triumph of Forza Horizon 5 which is approaching 15 million players both thanks to its commercial success and to Xbox Game Pass subscribers. Integrated into Xbox Game Studios in June 2018, Playground Games has become a two-headed studio whose second team is responsible for giving a new start to the franchise. Fable.
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