Tag: forza
Several Forza Horizon Developers Leave Playground Games and Xbox to Form New Studio
Former Forza Horizon leaders open ‘AAA’ studio Maverick Games
Yet more video game veterans are forming a new studio after leaving an industry heavyweight. Key leaders from Forza Horizon creator Playground Games have established Maverick Games, a Leamington Spak, UK development house devoted to ‘AAA’ titles. Gamesindustry.biznotes the studio is headed by former Horizon creative director Mike Brown, while executive producer Tom Butcher, technical chief Matt Craven, content director Gareth Harwood and audio lead Fraser Strachan.
The 10-person team’s art director is Ben Penrose, who most recently worked at Vampire the Masquerade: Blood Hunt developer Sharkmob but also has experience at Playground. Former EA experience director Elly Marshall is in charge of experience and interface development. Sega and Sumo veteran Harinder Sangha is the operations chief.
Maverick hasn’t shared much about its first project, but does say it will be an open-world title for consoles and PCs. Brown suggests the game will be a response to how people entertain themselves in the modern era — think subscription services and TikTok. That means games that are continuously involving without being repetitive, Brown explains.
As with similar launches, Maverick is hoping to veer away from ‘safe’ projects. Brown tells GI.biz he wants to encourage “creative risks,” but also wants to keep out “toxic” egos that can damage the team. Sangha hopes the company can help improve diversity in the game industry. This is about shaking up the existing formula which, while reliable, doesn’t allow for much variety.
Brown and Sangha stressed that they left their respective former employers on good terms. However, they and Maverick are part of a broader trend of high-profile game devs going independent after dealing with creative frustration (or simply boredom) at major studios. Simply speaking, big-name brands can’t assume their top talent will stick around.
Forza Horizon directors unite to form new AAA development studio Maverick Games
Former Playground Games directors have formed a new game development studio, Maverick Games, and are developing a new, premium open-world game for consoles and PC.
Maverick’s founding team is led by Mike Brown, the former creative director at Playground Games. Brown will maintain the position at the new company and the studio head title.
Joining Brown from Playground Games are Tom Butcher as executive producer, Matt Craven as CTO, Gareth Harwood as content director, and Fraser Strachan as audio director.
Forza Horizon veterans found new studio focused on open-world “premium” games
Several senior figures from Forza Horizon developer Playground Games have broken away to develop new open-worlds at their own studio. Maverick Games is based in Leamington Spa, UK, and headed up by Forza Horizon 5’s creative director Mike Brown. Brown also fills the role of creative director at Maverick. Harinder Sangha, formerly of Sega Hardlight and Sumo Leamington, will run the studio as chief operations officer.
Xbox Showcase reported for later this month, featuring Redfall, Forza, and more
Rumours of yet another Xbox Showcase have been ruminating for a little while now, and finally, Windows Central has reported that it has some concrete information on the show.
Managing editor, Jez Corden, has reported that the showcase could be titled Xbox Developer_Direct, and will allegedly air on January 25 at 8PM GMT / 9PM CET / 12PM PT / 3PM ET.
Corden reports hearing about an Xbox Showcase back in December but has “since been able to lock the information down with a variety of sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans.”
Take High on Life, Forza Horizon 5, and More on the Go with Xbox Cloud Gaming for the New Razer Edge
Power Your Adventure with the Xbox Series X and Forza Horizon 5 Premium Edition Bundle
Forza Horizon 5 auction house closed while devs fix wrecked economy
If you play Forza Horizon 5 for a while, you end up with lots of cars. Heaps of ’em, in fact. There are several things you can do with them: you can gift them to other players in the racing game’s various barns, or you can sell them to players looking to complete their collections using the Forza Horizon 5 auction house. That feature has been unavailable for the past week, and Playground Games says it’ll remain offline until the developer can rebalance the game’s economy.
RELATED LINKS: Forza Horizon 5 review, The best racing games on PC, The best open-world games on PC
Forza Horizon 5 Updates Brings Donut Media Cosmetics And New Cars
Forza Horizon 5 has added a new story mission set in the Donut Media Test Track, eight accolades, and cosmetics themed around Donut Media. These cosmetics include clothing, emotes, and other collectibles.
Other new content includes new unlockable cars, such as the brand new 2020 Lynk&Co #62 Cyan Racing 03. The 1965 Morris Mini-Traveller, the 1946 Ford Super Deluxe Station Wagon, and the 1953 Morris Minor Series II Traveler all return to Forza in this update. In car customization, the update adds 21 new Rocket Bunny Widebody kits.
The latest #ForzaHorizon5 update, Donut Media, is now rolling out for download on Xbox, Windows and Steam. Here’s a look at the fixes and improvements available in this release. As always, the full changelog can be found in our patch notes: https://t.co/YBmGWgTLXy pic.twitter.com/erTQvf3lhG
— Forza Support (@forza_support) November 8, 2022
The PC version has also received a number of improvements, most notably two new presets, Ultra and Extreme, which render reflections for the player’s car in Free Roam, Races, and Drivatar in Photo mode. Other additions include AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.2, Enhanced DirectX Raytracing, NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution, NVIDIA DLAA, and 3DRap Hand Controller HC1 compatibility.