Dan Greenawalt, director, founder, and vice president at Turn 10 Games, has departed from the studio after spending 27 years as part of the company. This comes as Turn 10 is merged with Playground Games as part of Xbox’s mass restructuring initiative that made headlines as it resulted in 3200 layoffs and four studio closures earlier this year.

In a report by The Verge, an internal memo written by Playground Games studio head Trevor Williams states: “Dan Greenawalt has decided that this is the right time for him to retire from Microsoft”.

Forza Motorsport – Official Launch Trailer

Watch the video at its source

The memo continues: “It’s hard to overstate Dan’s impact over the past 27 years. From shipping Project Gotham Racing on the original Xbox in 2001 to leading the creation of Forza, founding Turn 10 Studios and appearing so many times on our E3 stage, usually making a dramatic entrance with a supercar in tow – and so much more – we owe tremendous thanks and gratitude to Dan. On behalf of both teams, I would like to thank Dan for his leadership, his support, and his partnership. I wish him well for whatever comes next.”.

With Xbox’s merger of Playground Games and Turn 10, the developers will be working in collaboration on the Forza and Fable franchises. The final track racer game that Playground Games developed prior to this merger was 2023’s Forza Motorsport reboot, a wonderful racer that offered a sweet alternative to the more arcade Forza Horizon series. In Eurogamer’s review, the game was described as: “A generous and lavish racer, with thrilling driving, that wants you for the long haul.”.