Microsoft stresses it will “continue to support Forza Motorsport and Horizon 5” despite cuts at studio Turn 10

Microsoft has “assured players that Turn 10 and Playground Games will continue to support Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon 5”.

In the wake of brutal cuts which saw over 9000 employees laid off from Microsoft last month, including across its gaming divisions, the likes of Rare’s Everwild, The Initiative’s Perfect Dark reboot, and a new ZeniMax MMORPG were all cancelled, while roughly 200 staff from Candy Crush developer King were laid off and reportedly replaced by the AI tools they helped to build.

At the time, Microsoft told Eurogamer the layoffs were “necessary to position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace”. A few days later, we reported Forza Motorsport was “no more”, according to a former employee at developer Turn 10 Studios, though it was emphasised that the Horizon series will continue.

Now Microsoft has again stressed that support is ongoing, writing on social media: “Dear Forza Community, we know many of you have questions about what’s next for the Forza franchise, and we appreciate the support of our incredible community.

“We wanted to assure players that Turn 10 and Playground Games will continue to support Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon 5. To start, here’s more info about what’s coming next to Forza Motorsport”. The post then linked to a webpage.

Interestingly, Microsoft didn’t outline what’s next for the Horizon franchise, only pledged commitment to the latest in the series, Forza Horizon 5. As racing driver and content creator Steve Alvarez Brown, aka SuperGT, pointed out, “this offers zero clarity as to whether Forza Motorsport will continue beyond the current game.”

Last month, we learned Forza Horizon 5 was the highest-selling game on PS5 this year so far, surpassing 3 million copies sold. Though previously an Xbox-exclusive, Forza Horizon 5 released on Sony’s rival platform at the end of April.

By comparison, Forza Horizon 5 has been played by more than 45.5 million players across Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, though predominantly via the Game Pass subscription, since its release in 2021. On Steam, it’s sold a further 6.5m copies (also since 2021).