Playground Games co-founder and former studio head: "Horizon. That's the game we have to beat."

ShaiKhulud1989

ShaiKhulud1989

Gold Member
Lighthouse Games, the AAA Leamington Spa-based studio formed in 2022 by Playground Games co-founder and former studio head Gavin Raeburn, has revealed it's developing a "disruptive" driving game and secured additional investment from Tencent to make it happen.
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Basically:
>UE5-based Horizon challenger
>130 devs overall, 45 former PG/Codemasters devs+more devs from other studios, plans to hire at least 50 more
>Tencent is a key investor but so far no publushing deal was reached
>You can (OPs opinion though) read between the lines that he's not that happy at MS for shifting priorities towards The Fable

Full article:
www.gamesindustry.biz

"That's the game we have to beat" – Lighthouse Games on making a "disruptive" driving game to take on Forza Horizon

Lighthouse Games, the AAA Leamington Spa-based studio formed in 2022 by Playground Games co-founder and former studio h…
www.gamesindustry.biz www.gamesindustry.biz
 
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How did you gather he is pissed at Microsoft? It sounds pretty rational, that they didnt want to make FH 6, 7, 8 and so on.

"I would say we're not building Horizon. If I wanted to build Horizon 6, 7 and 8, I would have stayed at Playground. [We] didn't want to do that – [we] wanted to do something new. And that's what we're doing now."
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I didnt know the Horizon series got this big - before publishing on PlayStation.

"If you look at the revenue earning of that game now, it beats Gran Turismo, F1, Need For Speed and The Crew put together. That's before Horizon went over to PlayStation. That's massive. I think what that's done to the market, though, [is] all the other racing developers are now copying a lot of that Horizon formula.
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Orbital2060 said:
How did you gather he is pissed at Microsoft? It sounds pretty rational, that they didnt want to make FH 6, 7, 8 and so on.



I didnt know the Horizon series got this big - before publishing on PlayStation.
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Dunno, this quote
"I would say we're not building Horizon. If I wanted to build Horizon 6, 7 and 8, I would have stayed at Playground. [We] didn't want to do that – [we] wanted to do something new. And that's what we're doing now."
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could be easily read as a soft jab. But I'm not going to start a console war here, it just felt that he was better off by himself with a lot of core devs and that's rarely a good sign.
Orbital2060 said:
I didnt know the Horizon series got this big - before publishing on PlayStation.
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That being said he's speaking a bit from his ass here, IMO, because his job is to 'sell' his new studio to the publishers.
 
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Sounds like he's complimenting Horizon as the market leader and using it as a goal for his studio to shoot for while making something new.
 
I think a Forza Horizon type game with actual game design and progression instead of just assaulting you with endless money and cars would be very welcome.

It would be tough to top FH in terms of sheer content, map design, and graphical quality though.
 
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ShaiKhulud1989 said:
Dunno, this quote

could be easily read as a soft jab. But I'm not going to start a console war here, it just felt that he was better off by himself with a lot of core devs and that's rarely a good sign.

That being said he's speaking a bit from his ass here, IMO, because his job is to 'sell' his new studio to the publishers.
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He doesnt mention Fable with a single word. What he is saying is confirmation that Microsoft are committed to the Horizon franchise, and these guys wanted to do something else than 6, 7, 8. FH3 was pretty disruptive, they want to make something new like that.
 
Orbital2060 said:
I didnt know the Horizon series got this big - before publishing on PlayStation.
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GT and NfS sold 10+ million in their most successful releases? Both are probably below Mario Kart, but I would have assumed these two are easily number 2 and 3. In total numbers and revenue.
Is FH extremely successful in microtransactions to actually be higher in revenue? Or how would it have higher revenue than these racing giants which were always on PC, PS too (and Nintendo as well)
 
ShaiKhulud1989 said:
Basically:

>You can (OPs opinion though) read between the lines that he's not that happy at MS for shifting priorities towards The Fable
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?? There's nothing in that article that would allow anyone to draw that conclusion. Where did you get it from?

The article is basically endless praise for Forza Horizon among driving games, and that for them it's where to focus when designing their game.

According to them, the revenue generated by Forza Horizon already exceeds that generated by other driving games, including GT, FM, NFS, etc.

They believe that although Forza Horizon practically captures all the public's attention today, there's still room for innovation and to attract those people who only have eyes for Forza Horizon, which attracts players who aren't interested in driving games.

Well, a pretty friendly presentation and far from controversial.

PS. Playground is two different independent studios: FH Studio and Fable Studio.
 
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diffusionx said:
I think a Forza Horizon type game with actual game design and progression instead of just assaulting you with endless money and cars would be very welcome.

It would be tough to top FH in terms of sheer content, map design, and graphical quality though.
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Almost every open world in a racing game is better designed than FH5s at least.

Agree with everything else you said though.


That said, definitely hyped for a new contender in the genre.
 
If they're referring to Forza Horizon 5, the Mexican atmosphere catches my attention.

I hope the physical version comes out on PS5; I don't plan on spending more than $40 on the digital version.
 
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Give the fans what they want. Japan.

Horizon in only as fun as the location it's set in and 4 was a huge let down and 5 didn't live up to its potential.
 
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ShaiKhulud1989 said:
>You can (OPs opinion though) read between the lines that he's not that happy at MS for shifting priorities towards The Fable
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Very weird take, since that's non-existent in the article and it was actually Playground themselves that pitched Fable to MS.

They've also built a second team from the ground up for Fable.



ShaiKhulud1989 said:
Dunno, this quote

could be easily read as a soft jab. But I'm not going to start a console war here, it just felt that he was better off by himself with a lot of core devs and that's rarely a good sign.
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I think most people who aren't invested in platform warring would read it as "I wanted to try something new".

Keeping a racing franchise running isn't anything negative. Gran Turismo is at 7 and I don't think anyone is calling for the franchise to be shut down.
 
Relieved, at first I read this as a Fable thread and that Playground was looking to make a Horizon clone 🤮

More racing games is a good thing.
 
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The best time to release was yesterday, the second best time is now. FH5 is LOOOONG in the tooth at this point and day 1 players are itching to move on. If they wait until FH6 is already out it'll be at their detriment.
 
diffusionx said:
I think a Forza Horizon type game with actual game design and progression instead of just assaulting you with endless money and cars would be very welcome.

It would be tough to top FH in terms of sheer content, map design, and graphical quality though.
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Agreed. That's my main complaint with the Horizon titles (especially 4 and 5).
 
Forza Horizon is the best racer franchise in the market right now as far as I'm concerned, so it's a good goal to have.

ShaiKhulud1989 said:
I've edited my bulletpoint for clarity
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If you want actual clarity, you're better off removing that bullet point. There's nothing in the article that hints any anything like that. Not sure which lines you read between to get that from.
 
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ShaiKhulud1989 said:
I think PG is a clear context that we're not talking about Aloy here.
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Dunno. Horizon is the name of the IP/series, with additional "subtitles" for each game.
Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Forbidden West, Horizon Call of the Mountain and Horizon Adventures.
Playgound Games' Fable is maybe similar to Horizon and came into my mind.
Even codemasters developed shooter and strategy games and isn't a pure racing studio, like Turn 10 Studios.

But it's cool to get another Forza Horizon like racing game.
I miss the old days of the PS3 and 360 generation, with games like Fuel, Motorstorm, Driver, Split/Second, Burnout, Blur, Pure and so on.
 
Aloy GIF by Guerrilla

Lego horizon right…….
 
If it's going to be as boring as Horizon 5, then they can keep it. Give me proper progression and not participation trophy bullshit.
 
Unreal Engine is a risky choice for a racing game. Some games like MotoGP have made it work but for others like WRC it was a death sentence.

The racing genre demands smooth control at all times. This isn't an adventure game where a stutter can occur while you're farting around the map so it doesn't really matter, or a turn-based game where the urgency of player inputs can take a back seat.

One momentary lapse in control in a racing game and it's just over.
 
Metnut said:
Ugh. Not the direction I was hoping for the new Fable.
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I still secretly hope that they managed to put their own spin on an RPG and insert a racing game-esque progression system into it or something.

I just want something unique and different from the idea of putting a racing game developer on an RPG. I mean, something different should come out of that odd combination… right?
 
Killer8 said:
Unreal Engine is a risky choice for a racing game. Some games like MotoGP have made it work but for others like WRC it was a death sentence.

The racing genre demands smooth control at all times. This isn't an adventure game where a stutter can occur while you're farting around the map so it doesn't really matter, or a turn-based game where the urgency of player inputs can take a back seat.

One momentary lapse in control in a racing game and it's just over.
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Yeep, if the footage looks, or reports start saying: "janky" or "studdery" about a racing game, people tune out. Say what you want too, but Forzatech is an awesome engine. Let's see what Gavin can do without MS money and Turn 10 tech.
 
bitbydeath said:
Forgot to add a dino.
KxOYxes.png
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Ah yes, the wonders of AI image generation. She's going through the windshield and sitting between the front seats, that makes absolutely no sense.

...unless the car is manual transmission. In which case we can ignore the windshield.
 
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