Brotaku

Gavin Raeburn, head of Playground Games and the creator of the Forza Horizon franchise, has announced that he has left the studio to form his own independent studio. The new studio, Lighthouse Games, is headquartered in Leamington Spa, England and is working on a new unannounced IP. Lighthouse Games is currently made up of 30 former Playground Games employees and is in the process of building up its team. The studio will focus on AAA experiences.

Gavin Raeburn is the second major figure to leave Playground Games, Mike Brown, creative director of the Forza Horizon franchise, also confirmed his departure earlier this year. Brown also his established his own studio, Maverick Games, and took with him several key figures from Playground Games. Maverick Games will also focus on AAA games and is currently recruiting for an unannounced new IP.

Here’s what Raeburn had to say:

I’m delighted that 30 former colleagues and other industry heavyweights have chosen to join me at Lighthouse. With Horizon, Playground and I created one of the most successful Xbox franchises of all time. We delivered significant commercial success year after year, to massive critical acclaim, following the success from my time at Codemasters leading DiRT, GRID, and F1. That DNA is now at Lighthouse, and with it, we intend to build something truly special using all our experience to create a new genre-defining franchise.