Forza Horizon developer Playground Games originally pitched a Project Gotham Racing reboot to Microsoft, before switching gears to its now-iconic racing spin-off series.
Speaking to GQ about the newly revealed Forza Motorsport, studio head Trevor Williams explained that he’d originally met the creators of the core Forza series and pitched a reboot of the long-dormant, much-loved Project Gotham Racing (originally developed by now-defunct studio Bizarre Creations).
Williams says his initial idea was shut down, and he and his team – while still at the restaurant – had to make a last-minute switch to pitching a spin-off in the Forza franchise:
“It was one of those stories where the steak turns to ash in your mouth, and I’m thinking, ‘how do we afford the flights home?’,” Williams said. “After five minutes, [Forza corporate vice president Alan Hartman] was like, ‘what would you do with Forza? Where would you take Forza?’ And we pitched what literally became Horizon, almost on a napkin.”
