Dan Greenawalt retires from Microsoft after 27 years

Dan Greenawalt, the co-founder of Turn 10 Studios and a key figure behind the Forza Motorsport franchise, is retiring from Microsoft after nearly 27 years. His departure follows a major reorganization within the Xbox division, which recently merged Turn 10 Studios with Playground Games, the developer of the Forza Horizon series.

According to internal memos reported by The Verge, Greenawalt will serve as a consultant to Playground Games leadership, including studio head Trevor Williams and new COO Michel Bastien, during his transition. Greenawalt’s career at Microsoft spanned from the release of Project Gotham Racing in 2001 to directing eight installments of the Forza Motorsport series.

The merger has resulted in a unified studio structure with two locations: Playground Games Leamington Spa in the United Kingdom and Playground Games Redmond in the United States. While Microsoft has not officially announced the cancellation of the Forza Motorsport series, reports indicate that the remaining Turn 10 team has been integrated to support existing projects like Forza Horizon and Fable, leaving the future of the simulation-focused Motorsport franchise uncertain.