Just yesterday, Microsoft and Playground Games announced leadership changes at the studio behind the phenomenal Forza Horizon 5. Indeed, it is a heavyweight in the industry, namely Gavin Raeburn, who is leaving the company after twelve years of good and loyal service.
One of Microsoft's flagship licenses, which made and continues to make the heyday of the Xbox One and the Xbox Series X | S, therefore loses one of its parents, but a replacement is already in pole position to succeed him.
Towards new horizons
Gavin Raeburn's name has been circulating in the gaming world for a number of years now. He became known for his work on Commodore 64 and then, over the years, on other well-known automotive licenses, such as DiRT and GRID.
However, in 2009, Gavin Raeburn decided to go his own way by leaving Codemasters to found his video game development studio, Playground Games, with his partner Trevor Williams. The latter abandons, in passing, his status as deputy general manager to become the new figure who will lead the studio.
Taking over for Trevor Williams
The entire studio, through the voice of the vice president of the company, Alan Hartman, took the opportunity to thank Raeburn for all these years at the head of Playground Games and for his sense of leadership. At this time, we don't know Gavin Raeburn's next destination but his name isn't expected to disappear from the industry anytime soon.
Besides that, Trevor Williams, propelled to the head of Playground Games, will have his work cut out as the follow-up to Forza Horizon 5 will occupy the development teams for a while yet. However, it should not be forgotten that the studio is currently in the process of reviving one of Microsoft's flagship franchises, Fable, whose release is highly anticipated.
