Microsoft veteran Dan Greenawalt retires amid studio restructuring

Dan Greenawalt, the founder of Turn 10 Studios and a key figure behind the Forza Motorsport franchise, is retiring from Microsoft after 27 years. His departure follows Microsoft’s decision to merge Turn 10 with Playground Games, the developer of Forza Horizon, into a single entity.

Greenawalt’s career at Microsoft spanned from the release of Project Gotham Racing in 2001 to his leadership in creating the Forza series. During the transition, he will serve as an adviser to Playground Games leadership. The merger comes amidst broader restructuring at Xbox, which has included significant layoffs and the consolidation of various development teams.

Separately, reports regarding the budget for Gears of War: E-Day suggest costs reached approximately $500 million. A former Xbox senior product manager, Derek Reese, noted that this figure likely includes technical support provided by The Coalition for Microsoft’s internal Unreal Engine branch, rather than solely covering the development of the single title.