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It has been over a decade since Gavin Raeburn co-founded Playground Games with Trevor Williams and Ralph Fulton. The British studio released all five games in the Forza Horizon series, the first installment of which was directed precisely by Raeburn. However, in January 2022 he left the studio and now announces that he has founded a new one with the aim of designing major productions.
Lighthouse Games, which is what this new studio is called, already has a team working on a triple-A game not yet announced and that it will present a new IP. The studio’s ambition is not trivial, as it has “30 former colleagues and other heavyweights in the industry” with great talent and experience.
Lighthouse Games, second studio of former Playground members
In announcing the opening of this new studio, Gavin Raeburn has been proud and excited, both for his career so far, and for the one to come:
With Horizon, Playground and I created one of the most successful Xbox franchises of all time. We have achieved significant commercial success year on year, with great critical acclaim, following the success of my time at Codemasters leading Dirt, Grid and F1. That DNA is now in Lighthouse, and with it we intend to build something truly special by using all of our experience to create a new, genre-defining franchise.
Several key figures leave Playground Games and form a new studio
we are xbox.com
Interestingly, Lighthouse Games is the second triple-A studio created by former Playground members so far in 2023. A talent drain occurred already in January, with some developers “culpable” for the success of the Forza Horizon series. They left Playground Games to form a new development studio called Maverick Gamesled by former Forza Horizon creative director Mike Brown.
We will remain attentive to Lighthouse Games and that important IP that they say they have on their hands.