Xbox combines its Forza teams into one studio

Microsoft is folding Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios into a single Xbox studio, bringing the two teams most closely associated with Forza under one roof. Turn 10 built the more simulation-minded Forza Motorsport series, while Playground turned Forza Horizon into an open-world racing franchise and is also making the next Fable. Xbox says the combined group will focus on both Forza and Fable, formalizing a partnership the studios have had for more than a decade. The move is part of a wider Xbox restructuring, and it does not announce a new game or spell out the future of Forza Motorsport; it does show Microsoft concentrating its racing expertise around fewer, larger teams and its best-known series.