Playground Games was founded by Gavin Raeburn,[6] Trevor Williams[7] and Ralph Fulton; the studio was announced in November 2009, with its opening scheduled for early 2010.[8][9] Playground Games announced their first project, Forza Horizon, in 2012.[8] The title was developed in collaboration with Turn 10 Studios and published by Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360 in October that year. The studio released Forza Horizon 2 on Xbox 360 and Xbox One in September 2014, and Forza Horizon 3 on Xbox One and Microsoft Windows in September 2016.[10]
In February 2014, Playground Games announced that they were forming a new development team focused on mobile games.[11] In February 2017, the studio detailed plans to open a second studio, focusing on a non-racing open-world video game project.[12] In November, they announced they had leased St. Albans House in Leamington Spa, which would provide the new studio with more than 17,000 square feet of office space.[13][14] Expected headcounts for both studios were in excess of 200 people.[15] In 2024, a third studio was opened in Lemington Spa to assist with the development of Fable.[16]
At E3 2018, Microsoft announced they had acquired Playground Games, which became part of Microsoft Studios (now known as Xbox Game Studios).[3][17][18] At the same time, Microsoft Studios also announced Forza Horizon 4, which would be released on 2 October 2018,[19] and that the studio was working on an unannounced AAA Open-World Action RPG project, later revealed to be in the Fable franchise.[4][5]
In January 2022, it was reported that co-founder and studio director Gavin Raeburn left Playground Games to open his own studio,[20] while GM Trevor Williams replaced him as studio head.[21]
