Dan Greenawalt, the head of Turn 10 Studios and the driving force behind Forza Motorsport, is retiring from Microsoft after almost 27 years. The news comes from an internal memo seen by The Verge, and Microsoft hasn’t made a public announcement.
What the memo says
Tom Warren reported the departure in his Notepad column for The Verge. The memo comes from Trevor Williams, the head of Playground Games, and says: “Dan Greenawalt has decided that this is the right time for him to retire from Microsoft.”
Greenawalt isn’t leaving straight away. He’ll stay on as an adviser to Williams and to Michel Bastien, Playground Games’ newly appointed chief operating officer, “while he transitions to his next phase”, the memo says.
Williams also looked back on Greenawalt’s career, from shipping Project Gotham Racing on the original Xbox in 2001 to leading the creation of Forza and founding Turn 10 Studios. He also recalled Greenawalt’s E3 stage appearances, “usually making a dramatic entrance with a supercar in tow”. On behalf of both teams, Williams thanked him for “his leadership, his support, and his partnership”.
Turn 10 is now part of Playground Games
Greenawalt leaves as head of Turn 10 Studios, which has been merged into Playground Games. Last month, Xbox’s Matt Booty announced in a memo published on Xbox Wire that “Playground and Turn 10 will come together as one studio focused on the Forza and Fable franchises”.
The Verge reports that the merged studio is called Playground Games and has two locations: Playground Games Leamington Spa and Playground Games Redmond, the former Turn 10 base. The remaining Turn 10 staff have moved over to work on the Forza Horizon series, including Forza Horizon 6, and on Fable, which launches on 23 February 2027.
What it means for Forza Motorsport
Forza Motorsport’s future is unclear. Turn 10 laid off more than 70 people last year, which The Verge says hit the vast majority of the studio. Since then, the remaining team has essentially been maintaining Forza Motorsport.
With Greenawalt retiring and Turn 10 folded into Playground Games, The Verge says it’s not clear whether Microsoft will ever return to Forza Motorsport. Microsoft hasn’t said anything official about the series’ future.
What Xbox players need to know
- Who: Dan Greenawalt, Turn 10 Studios founder and head
- What: Retiring from Microsoft after almost 27 years, and staying on as an adviser to Playground Games’ leadership
- Source: Internal memo seen by The Verge (reported, not announced publicly)
- Official: Turn 10 and Playground Games’ merger into one studio, announced on Xbox Wire in September
- Forza Motorsport: No official word on the series’ future
For everything else on Playground’s next game, see Fable: Everything We Know. Tell us on X or Facebook which Forza Motorsport moment you’ll remember Greenawalt for.
More from this week’s Xbox studio news: Arkane Lyon’s deadline gets another month, Gears of War: E-Day’s reported cost and sales and Xbox COO Helen Chiang leaves Microsoft.
