A
few
days
ago,
we
learned
that
Microsoft
had
gutted
one
of
its
longest-running
studios,
laying
off
roughly
50%
of
Turn
10,
the
stewards
of
Forza
Motorsport.
The
writing
was
already
on
the
wall,
but
now
a
former
employee
is
alleging
what
we
feared:
Forza
Motorsport
is
no
more.

That’s
according
to
Fred
Russel,
a
former
content
creator
at
Turn
10.
Now,
before
we
continue,
it
needs
to
be
said
that
Russel
hasn’t
worked
at
the
company
for
around
a
decade,
so
scepticism
is
healthy.
It’s
very
likely
he
still
has
contacts
at
the
studio
who
have
fed
him
information,
but
who
can
know
for
sure?

Posting
on
his
Facebook
page,
Russel
said
“Turn
10
Studios
has
shuttered
the
Forza
Motorsport
space
and
the
team
is
no
more.
A
very
sad
day
for
one
of
the
best
car
racing
video
games.”

However,
Russel
was
questioned
by
another
former
employee
of
both
Turn
10
and
Playground
Games,
Kayla
Goullaud,
who
worked
as
a
community
manager.
She
asked
Russel
where
he
had
heard
the
information,
stating:
“I
don’t
believe
the
space
is
shuttered,
nor
is
the
studio
closed.”

Russel
replied,
“the
studio
is
open
to
support
the
Horizon
side…
shuttered
the
Forza
Motorsport
side
only.”

His
words
slightly
contradict
his
prior
statement
of
“the
team
is
no
more.”
Perhaps,
though,
he
simply
meant
that
the
core
of
what
was
Turn
10
is
now
gone.

Being
a
support
studio
implies
the
other
50%
of
the
team
that
was
not
laid
off
in
the
initial
reports
are
indeed
still
employed
and
working,
perhaps
even
still
under
the
Turn
10
name,
even
if
they
are
now
nothing
more
than
extra
horsepower
for
the
much
more
popular
Forza
Horizon
series.

A
quick
flick
through
LinkedIn
does
reveal
Turn
10
employees
are
still
active
and
posting
about
surviving
the
cull.
So
far,
I
haven’t
seen
anything
confirming
what
Turn
10’s
role
will
be,
but
with
such
a
massive
reduction
in
staff
it
seems
like
a
safe
bet
that
another
Forza
Motorsport
won’t
be
made
by
them.
There’s
a
slim
chance
that
Playground
Games
could
take
it
over,
but
they
are
undoubtedly
already
very
busy
with
Forza
Horizon
and
the
upcoming
Fable.
Indeed,
Phil
Spencer
has
hinted
that
both
Forza
and
Fable
will
launch
in
2026.

It’s
also
not
clear
whether
the
physical
Turn
10
space
has
been
or
is
being
closed,
like
Russel
suggests,
or
if
it
will
remain
open.
I
imagine
it
will
be
closed,
though,
to
further
reduce
costs,
unless
there
isn’t
enough
space
to
move
the
Turn
10
staff
over
to
Playground
Games.

We
also
can’t
rule
out
the
possibility
that
the
surviving
Turn
10
team
will
continue
to
update
and
support
Forza
Motorsport,
a
game
which
was
designed
to
be
an
ongoing
live-service
style
title.
If
Microsoft
didn’t
see
any
value
in
creating
a
full
sequel,
then
cutting
the
staff
in
half
and
continuing
with
a
small
support
team
makes
cold,
hard
business
sense.

For
now,
though,
we
do
not
know
exactly
why
Turn
10
was
hit
so
heavily.
Of
course,
the
previous
Forza
Motorsport
seems
the
most
likely
cause.
While
the
prior
games
released
every
2
years,
Forza
Motorsport
took
6
years
to
launch,
coming
out
in
2023
but
launching
in
a
state
that
fans
were
not
happy
about.
Only
in
recent
months
with
continuous
updates
from
the
team
has
player
sentiment
seemed
to
really
turn
around,
with
many
people
commenting
that
it
took
them
2
years
to
fix
the
game.

Meanwhile,
the
Forza
Horizon
games
have
gone
from
strength
to
strength,
gaining
a
much
larger
player
base
in
the
process
and
even
drifting
over
to
PlayStation
where
it
appears
to
have
done
well
for
itself.