Dan Greenawalt, a 27-year Microsoft worker who helped construct Flip 10 Studios from scratch and directed eight Forza Motorsport video games spanning all 4 Xbox console generations, is retiring from Microsoft, in response to a brand new report.
The Verge’s Tom Warren reports that he is seen an inner memo that confirms Greenawalt’s departure. “Dan Greenawalt has determined that that is the precise time for him to retire from Microsoft,” mentioned Playground Video games studio head Trevor Williams. Playground, who develops the Forza Horizon franchise, was merged with Greenawalt’s Flip 10 final month as a part of Xbox’s ongoing “reset.”
Williams added, partly, “It’s laborious to overstate Dan’s impression over the previous 27 years. From transport Venture Gotham Racing on the unique Xbox in 2001 to main the creation of Forza, founding Flip 10 Studios and showing so many occasions on our E3 stage, normally making a dramatic entrance with a supercar in tow.”
Sadly, it appears as if 2023’s Forza Motorsport, which was meant to be a platform of types that might be advanced and added onto, is perhaps the final Motorsport sport for the foreseeable future, if ever, after layoffs hit Flip 10 final yr and reportedly relegated the remaining group to assist responsibility on the extremely worthwhile Forza Horizon. Motorsport will not be getting any more new content.
Greenawalt’s Forza Motorsport sequence persistently earned essential acclaim, with all eight video games scoring an 8 out of 10 or greater at IGN.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s govt editor of previews and host of IGN’s weekly Xbox present, Podcast Unlocked, and a co-host of Next-Gen Console Watch. He is a North Jersey man, so it is “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.