Games by Playground Games
Microsoft Studios / Playground Games
- 30th Sep 2014 (NA)
- 3rd Oct 2014 (UK/EU)
Microsoft Studios / Playground Games
- 27th Sep 2016 (UK/EU)
- 27th Sep 2016 (NA)
Forza Horizon 5: Rally Adventure Xbox Series X|S
Xbox Game Studios / Playground Games
- 29th Mar 2023 (NA)
Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious Xbox One
Microsoft Studios / Playground Games
- 27th Mar 2015 (UK/EU)
- 27th Mar 2015 (NA)
Forza Horizon 2: Storm Island Xbox One
- 16th Dec 2014 (UK/EU)
- 16th Dec 2014 (NA)
Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels Xbox Series X|S
Xbox Game Studios / Playground Games
- 19th Jul 2022 (UK/EU)
- 19th Jul 2022 (NA)
Reviews of Playground Games Games
Review Forza Horizon 5 Rally Adventure - A Love Letter To Rally
Eat dirt in this latest expansion
Rally has played a significant role in the automotive industry over the years, and Forza Horizon 5 is now acknowledging this important history (and the many rally games over the past few decades) in its latest ‘Rally Adventure’ expansion. Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time there’s been a rally add-on...
Review Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels – Back For An Enjoyable Second Lap
The skies above Mexico are calling
There was definitely some confusion when the first Forza Horizon 5 expansion was leaked on the Steam Store – indicating it would be Hot Wheels (again). While it was thought to be placeholder artwork for something else at the time, it was in fact another Hot Wheels expansion. This announcement received mixed...
Review Forza Horizon 5 - An Amazing Game, But One That's A Little Too Familiar
We feel like we've been to Mexico before...
When the Forza Horizon series originally showed up on Xbox 360 in 2012, it was quite a surprise for fans of the racing genre and was perhaps the first real competitor EA’s Need for Speed series had faced in a long time. The Xbox Game Studios franchise has since gone from strength to strength and is now...
Review Forza Horizon 2: Storm Island (Xbox One)
Making it rain.
When crafting a DLC package of any significant weight for a game that has gone down really well with gamers and critics alike, developers have to be careful. What they add can’t interfere with the mix that they already had, as they really don’t want to be messing with a successful formula. Playground Games found a way to ensure...
Review Forza Horizon 2 (Xbox One)
Bring us the horizon
Every so often, a game comes along that you imagine that you’ll be reminiscing about as a ninety-year-old while sipping a cup of weak tea in an old people’s home with your friends. Of course, the games of your youth will come up first. The arcade game that you beat with a single credit when you were on holiday with your...
Latest Playground Games News
Wednesday23rd Apr 2025
News Xbox's Forza Horizon 5 Gets 'Big Visual Boost' On PS5 Pro, Says Tech Review
"The Pro is really where the action is at"
Forza Horizon 5 officially moves over to PS5 starting this week, and as you may have seen elsewhere at Pure Xbox, we've been slowly wrapping our heads around playing a Forza title on a PlayStation console over the last few days. <related ids="181382"> While we've been busy playing the game and...
Tuesday11th Mar 2025
News Xbox Login Raises Concerns About Preservation Of Forza Horizon 5 On PlayStation
Sony's been criticised for doing it on PC as well
Xbox's new strategy has it releasing more games on more platforms, but there are still certain steps new players must follow if they want to join in on the fun. One of them happens to be mandatory Microsoft account logins. We've seen this with Sea Of Thieves and now sure enough, it's come up with...
Thursday27th Feb 2025
Talking Point With Fable Now Delayed, Which Xbox First-Party Game Launches This Fall?
Microsoft has a gap to fill
Well, Microsoft delivered the news this week that its big Fable reboot has been delayed - and before this recent turn of events, the Xbox RPG was probably the team's biggest release planned for late 2025. However, even with this delay, Xbox still has some major games planned for this year including South of Midnight and...
Feature Five Things We Spotted In Fable's Latest Gameplay Footage
Something to make up for the delay
This week, Xbox announced the delay of the next chapter in the Fable series, with the anticipated fantasy RPG now scheduled to arrive in 2026. To make up for this, Xbox also showed some new "pre-alpha footage" of this massive project, and we've now rounded up some of the more interesting bits - highlighting a...
Tuesday25th Feb 2025
News Xbox Has Officially Delayed Fable Into 2026
"We are going to give Fable more time"
Talking on a fresh episode of the Official Xbox Podcast, new Xbox Game Studios head Craig Duncan has announced that Microsoft's Fable reboot has been delayed. Previously planned for a 2025 launch, Playground Games' new attempt at the Xbox fantasy RPG will now arrive in 2026. Duncan says that the pushback will...
Thursday30th Jan 2025
News Forza Horizon 5 Officially Announced For PS5, Drifts Over In Spring 2025
New horizons on PS5
Xbox developer Playground Games has announced that Forza Horizon 5 is officially launching on PlayStation 5, with the open-world racer set to move over in Spring 2025. First released in late 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC, Forza Horizon 5 took players to Horizon Mexico in the series' fifth open-world outing on Xbox...
Saturday14th Dec 2024
Soapbox Paying Tribute To The Best Map In Forza Horizon History
Stick the kettle on, folks
This weekend, Forza Horizon 4 will be completely delisted from digital storefronts, as Microsoft sunsets yet another Forza title due ongoing licensing issues related to racing games. It is, unfortunately, a reality we've gotten used to at this point - every Forza game before this one has already disappeared into thin air...
Monday9th Dec 2024
PSA Xbox's Forza Horizon 4 Will Be Delisted In Less Than One Week
Grab it while you can!
Back in the summer, Microsoft and developer Playground Games announced that 2018's Forza Horizon 4 was set to be delisted on Xbox this December - and roughly six months later, that time is almost here. Yep, unfortunately, this brilliant open-world Xbox racer will disappear from digital storefronts on Sunday, December 15th -...
Thursday28th Nov 2024
Rumour Forza Horizon 5 'Will Arrive' On PS5, Despite A Delay From Xbox
"I don't know when, but it will arrive"
Earlier this year, we heard a strong rumour that Forza Horizon 5 would be another Xbox game to move over to PS5 at some stage - and now that very same source has provided an update on the situation as we near the end of 2024. According to prominent leaker eXtas1s, Microsoft's Forza Horizon 5's PS5 port is...
Monday4th Nov 2024
News Forza Horizon 5 Adds Halo Props So You Can Create A UNSC Racetrack On Xbox
Finish the slide
Developer Playground Games has detailed its latest Forza Horizon 5 update, and it contains a nice bonus feature for you Halo fans out there. Courtesy of Halo Studios, 71 props from the famous sci-fi franchise are now usable in Forza Horizon 5's EventLab mode - allowing players to create some wild Halo-themed courses and events...
Tuesday8th Oct 2024
News Forza Horizon 5 Makes It Easier To Acquire Cars From Past Updates
Horizon Backstage returns!
Playground Games is unleashing yet another Forza Horizon 5 update this week, and it introduces a welcome feature - now that the 2021 racer has had so many updates over the last three years or so. Returning from Forza Horizon 4 is 'Horizon Backstage'; a feature that basically allows you to acquire old cars that you may...
Monday30th Sep 2024
Talking Point Xbox's Forza Horizon 2 Changed The Open-World Racing Game 10 Years Ago
The start of a racing game dynasty
Well folks, it's come to our attention that Forza Horizon 2 is a decade old today, so yep, we had to make all of you feel like you're getting on a bit as well. Aye, believe or not, Xbox's second stab at open-world Forza is now 10 years old, and we just want to take a moment to reflect on what's been a rather good...
Tuesday30th Jul 2024
News Xbox Dev Playground Games Opens Another Studio To Work On Fable
Now three in total!
For a while now, we've known that Xbox-owned developer Playground Games has been working on Forza Horizon and Fable simultaneously - and now the team has revealed that the Fable side of the studio is really ramping up. Spotted on LinkedIn, the Playground Games bio now states that three studios are operating at the British...
Wednesday17th Jul 2024
News Forza Horizon 4 Has A Ridiculously Good Discount On Xbox Right Now
All editions are at least 80% off!
Last month, Microsoft announced that Forza Horizon 4 would be delisted from digital storefronts this December - and all three editions of the game have an amazing discount right now as part of Xbox's big summer sale. The Standard, Deluxe and Ultimate editions of Forza Horizon 4 are all 80% off right now - a
Tuesday16th Jul 2024
News Forza Horizon 5 Adds New 'Coffee Shop' Car Meet Location In Latest Major Update
Grab a coffee and do some donuts
Another big Forza Horizon 5 update has been detailed, as developer Playground Games continues to deliver the goods for its 2021 open world racer. As you'd expect, we've got lots of new vehicles coming via the game's Festival Playlist this month, but it's the new car meet location that's caught our eye so far. Yep,...
Monday15th Jul 2024
News Forza Horizon 5 Still Growing As Playground Games Hits Impressive New Player Count
It's still incredibly popular in 2024!
The Forza Horizon series has been a consistent performer for Xbox over the past decade or so, and with the help of Xbox Game Pass, the last two entries in particular have been incredibly popular. Forza Horizon 5, the team's latest effort, just keeps on trucking - and Playground Games has now seen over 40...
Wednesday26th Jun 2024
Soapbox Forza Horizon 4 Hosted The Best Racing In The Series, And I'll Be Sad To See It Go
One more trip to the lakes
Well, Forza Horizon's British racing festival is about to close its doors - with Xbox announcing that Forza Horizon 4 will be delisted from digital storefronts later this year. Of course, the game will remain playable for existing owners after this date, but it's being removed from Xbox Game Pass
Tuesday18th Jun 2024
News Forza Horizon 5 'Universal Icons' Car Pack Brings Star-Studded Lineup To Xbox
And it's out today!
Playground Games has unveiled a new premium car pack for Forza Horizon 5, and this one brings five movie star cars to the open world racer. Available today for $10, Horizon's finest drivers can go hands-on with five new rides inspired by the likes of Jurassic Park, Back to the Future and Knight Rider. Up above you can take a...
Monday10th Jun 2024
News Eidos Montreal Confirms It's Supporting The Development Of Fable
Following a report late last year
Fable developer Playground Games has already called on the assistance of some other parties, and following the latest trailer it's now been confirmed Eidos Montreal is helping out. The studio made it official on social media with the following message earlier on, mentioning how it's been "supporting" development of...
Sunday9th Jun 2024
News Fable Officially Returns To Xbox In 2025, Featuring Even More Snarky Humour
Fable has a release window!
Playground Games has certainly gone in a different direction from Forza Horizon with its upcoming Fable reboot, but we're totally here for it. As part of the Xbox Games Showcase, the British developer gave us another fresh look at the title - featuring all the snarky humour you'd expect from the series. More than that,...
Tuesday26th Mar 2024
News Forza Horizon 5 'Race-Off' Update Brings New Cars, Collectibles & More To Xbox Game Pass
"Race towards the finish line"
Xbox developer Playground Games has detailed its latest Forza Horizon 5 update — 'Race-Off' — which begins this week at the Horizon Mexico festival. As usual, the new update brings plenty of new vehicles, events and more to Xbox's open world racer. Starting off with the 'race-off' theme, two new rides will be...
Monday26th Feb 2024
News Fable Reboot Gets New Co-Developer To Work Alongside Playground Games
A fabled assist
Things have been dark on Fable since last summer's big showcase, but news of a fresh co-developer is getting us all excited to see more of Playground Games' upcoming RPG reboot. Third Kind Games has revealed that it is working on the new Fable game, as mentioned on the company's website. The announcement doesn't bring any sort of...
Wednesday7th Feb 2024
News Fable's Narrative Lead Joins Cyberpunk 2077 Follow-Up 'Project Orion'
The new game is entering its "early stages of development"
New information has surfaced about Playground Games' former Fable narrative lead Anna Megill, who left the company last August. As highlighted by Eurogamer, she's now joined CD Projekt Red North America to work on its Cyberpunk 2077 follow-up, codenamed 'Project Orion'. This project is...
Monday29th Jan 2024
News Forza Horizon 5 Details Huge Lunar New Year Update Arriving This Week
There's loads of fresh content coming to FH5
Forza Motorsport is here and adding fresh content each month, but let's not forget about Forza Horizon 5 either. Playground Games continues to build and build on its 2021 open world racer, and this week marks the start of its Lunar New Year update on Xbox and PC. Jam-packed with new content, FH5 is...
Friday29th Dec 2023
Talking Point Do You Think We'll See Another Forza Horizon Game Anytime Soon?
It's already been two years since FH5!
If you can believe it, we're already beyond the two-year point for Forza Horizon 5; the latest game in the Forza Horizon series launched in November 2021. At one point, a two-year release cycle was the norm for Forza releases, although that's clearly changed in recent years. The question is, how close are we to...
Tuesday5th Dec 2023
News Forza Horizon 5's Next Three Seasonal Updates Detailed
Starting out in a Winter Wonderland
Ahead of the festive season, Forza Horizon 5 developer Playground Games has detailed its next three major updates, and as you'd expect, the first one is appropriately themed for the winter season. Kicking off this month, 'Winter Wonderland' adds your usual array of Forza Horizon 5 goodies — including a new...
Tuesday21st Nov 2023
Soapbox After Finally Playing 'Rally Adventure', I Want To See More Of This From Forza Horizon
I've enjoyed my time with its linear campaign
A little over six months since Playground Games launched Forza Horizon 5: Rally Adventure, I finally got around to playing the add-on this past weekend thanks to its big Black Friday discount. Another Pure Xbox racing fanatic in Liam reviewed the DLC pack when it first arrived in March, but I wanted to...
Tuesday24th Oct 2023
News Forza Motorsport Is Out Now, But The Forza Horizon 5 Community Continues To Grow
Playground Games has hit another massive milestone
Xbox developer Turn 10 has finally delivered its next-gen vision for Forza Motorsport, but that isn't slowing down the juggernaut that is Forza Horizon 5. Despite the latter being out for almost two years at this point, the player base continues to grow - and it's just hit a new milestone. As you...
Wednesday11th Oct 2023
News Forza Horizon 5's 'Day Of The Dead' Update Now Live On Xbox Game Pass
Día de Muertos brings new cars, achievements & more to FH5
Forza Horizon 5 is celebrating 'Día de Muertos' this year with its new Day of the Dead update - now live on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Game Pass of course! As you've come to expect from FH these days, the new update is jam-packed with new cars, Festival Playlist challenges, achievements and...
Saturday9th Sep 2023
News Forza Horizon 5 Gets A Free 'EventLab 2.0' Update Next Week
Includes the brand new location EventLab Island
The Forza Horizon 5 community was already doing all sorts of amazing things with the game's EventLab creator tool, but next week it's getting a free upgrade with the rollout of EventLab 2.0 on 12th September. This new and improved version of the tool features improvements such as multi-select, custom...
Thursday17th Aug 2023
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (August 17-20)
Included with Xbox Live Gold & Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Free Play Days returns for the coming weekend! Microsoft is offering up four games to try for free this week, including its own open world racer Forza Horizon 5 alongside three smaller titles. Here's the full Free Play Days list: Blasphemous Forza Horizon 5 Let's Build A Zoo The Knight Witch
Wednesday16th Aug 2023
News Forza Horizon 5 Update Marks The Return Of Some Classic Italian Car Makers
Four manufacturers are back in the lineup
Forza Horizon 5's latest update is now rolling out, and the game's upcoming seasonal event is bringing back some major car manufacturers who've been missing since 2018's Forza Horizon 4. Yep, the 'Italian Automotive' update reintroduces Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lancia to the Forza Horizon series - four...
Tuesday18th Jul 2023
News Forza Horizon 5 Is Hosting A Summer Party, Featuring New 'Icons Of Speed' Story
In the summertime
As part of this week's Forza Monthly livestream — which also dropped brand-new Forza Motorsport details — Playground Games has introduced its latest Forza Horizon 5 series update; dubbed 'Summer Party'. This latest content drop for Forza Horizon 5 includes your typical set of new vehicles, arriving via the game's Festival...
Thursday15th Jun 2023
News Fable Dev Flattered By Fans Asking If Xbox Showcase Trailer Was 'Real'
Fabled footage
Now that the dust has settled on Xbox's fabled 2023 Showcase (sorry), fans have started to focus on certain elements of the show; discussing what impressed them most from the event. Fable has been talked about a lot - not least because some viewers believed the trailer could be CGI. It isn't, of course — that much has b
Sunday11th Jun 2023
News Fable Looks Jaw-Dropping With First In-Game Trailer
Let's go!
Playground Games' Fable reboot opened today's Xbox Games Showcase 2023 - and it looks absolutely phenomenal through the title's first in-game trailer. Of course, we've dropped the new video clip up above, which provides just a sneak peek at Xbox's upcoming reboot of the famous RPG franchise. For now, we don't have a release window on this...
Thursday8th Jun 2023
News Playground Games Is Getting Help Developing Forza Horizon 5 Updates
Is the team becoming busy on other projects?
We know that Xbox developer Playground Games is busy working away on the Fable reboot, but is the team also toiling away on something else? Well, we're not quite sure, but we do know that another developer has been drafted in to help with Forza Horizon 5 content. Posting to Twitter yesterday, Wushu...
Wednesday31st May 2023
News Xbox's Latest Showcase Teaser Has Fable Fans Incredibly Excited
Is a reveal on the way?
We're now just days out from the Xbox Games Showcase 2023, and to help build the excitement, Xbox's social media account has gone and shared quite an interesting 21-second teaser video that's got a lot of fans talking about the possibility of a Fable reveal. In the clip below, you can see the camera following a trail of...
Tuesday23rd May 2023
News Forza Horizon 5 Update 21 Is Huge, Featuring All-New Photo Mode Options & More
Explore the horizon
Forza Horizon 5 will move onto its Series 21 update on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC this week, and the team's 'Explore the Horizon' update is looking like one of the biggest yet. The headline feature is a re-worked photo mode that adds tons of new options for the car photography enthusiasts out there. From...
Monday15th May 2023
Talking Point Are You Still Playing Forza Horizon 5 In 2023?
The open world racer hits a huge player milestone
It's been doing the rounds lately that Xbox's 2021 open world racer Forza Horizon 5 has hit 30 million players according to the game's leaderboard, so we thought we'd load it up and have a quick check. As you can see up above, the in-game Hall of Fame leaderboard has indeed ticked over to just above...
Saturday22nd Apr 2023
News Forza Horizon 5's 'High Performance' Content Update Races Onto Xbox Next Week
A new series begins
In the latest episode of Forza Monthly, Playground Games discussed the Forza Horizon 5 series update, starting next week on 25th April. As part of this, there'll be a new 'High Performance' content update, coming a few days later on 27th April. To cut to the chase, High Performance will add a "permanent race oval" to the Horizon...
Sunday5th Mar 2023
Soapbox I Hope Forza Horizon 6 Goes In A Different Direction For The Series
Taking the alternate route
Now that Playground Games has revealed all of its major expansion plans for Forza Horizon 5, I've been thinking about what I'd like to see from the inevitable sequel, whenever it arrives. For a long, long time, there's been plenty of discussion around Japan as a potential location for 'Forza Horizon 6'. The idea has me
Friday3rd Mar 2023
News Forza Horizon 5 'Rally Adventure' Full Open World Map Revealed
Lots of rugged rally racing
Forza Horizon 5's second expansion launch is fast approaching, with 'Rally Adventure' releasing for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC on March 29th. Ahead of the arrival of more open world racing on Xbox, the FH team has revealed the full map for DLC 2. As expected, the landscape looks to feature plenty of twisting rally...
Rumour Fable Reboot Is 'Miles Away' While Xbox Focuses On Hellblade 2 And Avowed
What will Team Xbox show off this summer?
In a recent episode of VGC's new podcast, journalist Andy Robinson spoke about Xbox's upcoming games lineup, with the hosts speculating on what may appear at the Xbox summer showcase in 2023. While the outlet hasn't heard anything specific about what's planned for the conference itself, Robinson
Wednesday1st Mar 2023
News Forza Horizon 5 Patch Delivers 'Horizon Wilds Takeover' Ahead Of Rally Adventure Update
Here are all the patch notes
Playground Games has just unveiled its upcoming Forza Horizon 5 DLC pack, 'Rally Adventure', but the team has also been hard at work delivering the game's latest Series update in the meantime. The 'Horizon Wilds Takeover' links in nicely to next month's Rally Adventure expansion, with the game's dirt racing discipline...
Monday27th Feb 2023
News Forza Horizon 5 'Rally Adventure' Full Car List & Open World Details
Get ready to rally
Late last week, Forza Horizon 5 dev Playground Games fully revealed the game's second expansion, Rally Adventure. The off-road focused affair arrives March 29th, and ahead of launch, the team has released quite a lot of information about what to expect from FH5's final major DLC pack. We'll break down the big talking points so...
Friday24th Feb 2023
Talking Point Are You Happy With The Forza Horizon 5 Expansion 2 Setting?
Many rally returns
Playground Games finally revealed Forza Horizon 5 Expansion 2 yesterday in the form of 'Rally Adventure', an all-new DLC pack arriving next month. The expansion takes clear inspiration from Forza Horizon 1's own rally add-on, bringing a more down-to-earth DLC to Forza Horizon 5. The question is, what do we all make of the...
Thursday23rd Feb 2023
News Forza Horizon 5 'Rally Adventure' Expansion Leaps Onto Xbox This March
The Horizon Festival is expanding!
Developer Playground Games has revealed that Forza Horizon 5's second major expansion is based on all things off-roading. The 'Rally Adventure' expansion pack launches March 29th on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC. The new DLC harkens back to the early days of Forza Horizon. The first game in the series featured...
Tuesday24th Jan 2023
News Forza Horizon 5 To Honor Rally Icon Ken Block With Tribute Video & Special In-Game Content
Calls on community's photos, clips & video
2023 didn't get off to the best start in the racing community - with the loss of the legendary rally and Hoonigan driver Ken Block in a snowmobile accident. Not only was he a huge part of car culture, but he also had an impact on many video games over the years including the Forza series. Now, in honor of...
Tuesday10th Jan 2023
News Forza Horizon 5 Devs Split Off To Form New AAA Studio
"The game will be open world, it will be AAA, it will be premium"
Here's some big industry news for a random Tuesday morning in January! A chunk of the Playground Games team that developed Forza Horizon over the last few years have left the studio, forming a new "AAA" team called Maverick Games. Forza Horizon 5 creative director Mike Brown is...
Sunday8th Jan 2023
Soapbox Forza Horizon 5 Expansion 2 Should Take Notes From 'Fortune Island'
The FH4 add-on remains a series highlight
Forza Horizon 5 has been an enjoyable ride so far, with Playground Games delivering a thrilling rendition of open world Mexican racing followed by a major DLC pack in the form of Hot Wheels 2.0. While our reviewer very much enjoyed their time with the series' second Hot Wheels outing, the community is now...
