First reported by Eurogamer, former Forza content material coordinator Fred Russell has acknowledged on Fb that the Forza Motorsport collection has been successfully killed by Microsoft’s most up-to-date wave of mass layoffs, however that the Horizon spinoff collection will proceed. Russell left Forza developer Flip 10 in 2016, however seems to nonetheless have inside contacts on the firm.
“Flip 10 Studios has shuttered the Forza Motorsport house and the workforce isn’t any extra,” Russell wrote on Fb. “A really unhappy day for the most effective automotive racing videogames. I beloved my time there.” In response to a remark asking if Flip 10 would stop making video games altogether, Russell responded that “Forza Horizon will proceed at this level.”
The axing of 1 main franchise whereas one other carries on traces up with different reporting on how Flip 10 was affected by the layoffs. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier posted on Bluesky that as much as 50% of Flip 10’s employees had been let go from the corporate.
Forza Motorsport was the unique incarnation of the collection, providing a traditional, track-by-track expertise that served as Microsoft’s reply to Gran Turismo on PlayStation. Forza Horizon emerged as an open world spinoff of the collection in 2012, and it appears to have eclipsed its progenitor in recognition. The newest entries of every have been the confusingly-named Forza Motorsport in 2023—actually Forza Motorsport 8, for these retaining observe—and Forza Horizon 5 in 2021.
Although sitting at “Blended” critiques on Steam, PCG contributor Phil Iwaniuk gave Forza Motorsport an 80% in his assessment, praising its execution of the arcade racing format, even when it did not innovate or take dangers. In the meantime, PCG editor-in-chief Phil Savage awarded a 90% rating in his assessment of Forza Horizon 5, writing that it was “a ridiculous automotive playground masquerading as an open world racing recreation.”
