It was announced today that Playground Games (Forza Horizon) co-founder Gavin Raeburn has assembled a “team of veterans” to form a new AAA games studio called “Lighthouse Games”, currently working on an IP not announced.
The team actually includes 30 of Raeburn’s former colleagues, including “core founding members of the original Playground Games team, and the intention is to create a ‘genre-defining franchise’. So no pressure!
Here’s what Raeburn had to say about the new study in a press release:
“I am delighted that 30 former colleagues and other industry heavyweights have chosen to join me at Lighthouse. With Horizonte, Playground and I have created one of the most successful Xbox franchises of all time. We have achieved significant commercial success year after year, with great critical acclaim, following the success of my time at Codemasters as head of Dirt, Grid there F1.
That DNA is now in Lighthouse, and with it, we intend to build something truly special using all of our experience to create a new genre-defining franchise.”
This is actually the second time we’ve seen a story like this in 2023, with Forza Horizon 5 creative director Mike Brown also currently leading a new AAA project at Maverick Games, so there’s quite a series of ambitions! ex-Forza over there!
It will be interesting to see how Lighthouse Games and Maverick Games make their way into the racing genre in the years to come, and also how Forza Horizon adapts in the years to come following some of these high profile releases.
What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments section below.
Fraser has an unhealthy obsession with all things Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead series and has an intimate knowledge of sports games on Xbox. He also supports Walsall FC, that West Midlands team you’ve never heard of.