Is There a Racing Game Renaissance? Forza Horizon 2 Developer Thinks So

Four years can make a big difference.

It was just four years ago that Playground Games was pitching ideas for the new racing game that would become Forza Horizon. But the landscape for racing games looked bleak in 2010.

“It was not a good time to be a racing developer,” says Ralph Fulton, one of Playground Games’ founder, told Eurogamer. “It wasn’t a good time to be pitching racing games to publishers. More than one told us that racing is dead, that they didn’t want anything to do with it. There were a number of times over that period that were really difficult for everyone involved. In those situations you always have to come back to: why am I doing this? Why did I get into this, and what are we hoping to achieve?”

Fortunately Playground was able to partner with Turn 10 studios and Microsoft and make Forza Horizon 2 a success. And now as Forza Horizon 2 approaches release along other big names like The Crew, World of Speed, Driveclub, and Project CARS, Fulton sees a much brighter picture for the racing genre.

“One of the things that’s great for me, personally, not just in terms of Playground and Horizon 2, it’s the rude health the scene is in. We came from a place where people really didn’t want to know about racing games – now you’ve got people working on new IP, reviving old franchises. It’s a really great time for the genre,” Fulton said.