Turn 10 Studios has addressed worried fans – but they didn’t answer all their questions.
Why Are Forza Fans Worried About Turn 10 Studios?
Two months ago, Microsoft started their latest round of layoffs across the company. Microsoft eventually confirmed these layoffs but did not share details. That created a lot of fear and confusion, especially for gamers worried for their favorite studios and games.
A rumor spread that Turn 10 had particularly huge layoffs. The remaining staff are themselves only working to support Forza Horizon 5. While Forza Horizon 5 is already four years old, Microsoft ported it to PlayStation 5 earlier this year.
Turn 10 should also be working on another game: Forza Motorsport, which released in 2023. The rumors and/or speculation are that Microsoft has already given up on this title. Fans did not agree with the critics’ positive reception at launch, and it has not managed to stage a successful comeback after multiple updates and fixes.
Turn 10 Finally Speaks Ouut
The Forza Motorsport Twitter account shared this message today:
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.
They then revealed that Forza Motorsport’s old time-limited content will be permanently added back to the game.
What Do We Make Of This?
A few days earlier, Xbox community members spoke out that Microsoft is mismanaging the Forza franchise. Because they won’t talk about the layoffs and its consequences, Microsoft has left fans unsure if they will still get new Forza games.
In the bigger picture, they also didn’t know what state Turn 10 is, if Microsoft is retiring Forza entirely, etc. It’s an unnecessary disaster that Microsoft could have avoided if they were more forthcoming about these layoffs.
Obviously, this update does not tell us everything at all. Fans still don’t know if they can expect Turn 10 to keep making new Forza games. They don’t know if there are even enough people in the studio to make one.
Microsoft Still Isn’t Fixing This Problem
Microsoft also left fans of their other games and studios hanging. We don’t know if Microsoft is still committed to their next Halo and Gears of War games. We don’t know if Zenimax Media’s and Activision’s announced games are also safe.
There was a rumor that everything Microsoft announced in their last Xbox Games Showcase is safe. But we’re now weeks after Microsoft’s last financial meeting and they didn’t confirm this at all. So the truth is, that’s also cold comfort.
Microsoft is revealing Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 in two weeks at Gamescom. If they can still afford to go ahead with that event, they can make time to talk about those layoffs and how it affected Microsoft Gaming.
And they don’t have to make a huge podcast or event for this. They can just share a press release that addresses each game and studios. If there are games that are being retired or cancelled, it’s better if they told us directly.
This spectre of FUD continues to harm their reputation. At a time when Microsoft Gaming is experiencing its greatest success, they shouldn’t be shooting themselves in the foot like this.
