Forza Motorsport director Dan Greenawalt is retiring from Microsoft after 27 years

Dan Greenawalt, the man who founded Turn 10 Studios and directed every Forza Motorsport game, is retiring from Microsoft after 27 years.

The Verge's Tom Warren reports he's seen an internal memo confirming the departure. In it, Playground Games studio head Trevor Williams wrote: “Dan Greenawalt has decided that this is the right time for him to retire from Microsoft.”

Williams also wrote: "It’s hard to overstate Dan’s impact over the past 27 years." He pointed to Greenawalt shipping Project Gotham Racing on the original Xbox in 2001, leading the creation of Forza, founding Turn 10, and his many E3 stage appearances, "usually making a dramatic entrance with a supercar in tow."

That's a long run. Greenawalt directed eight Forza Motorsport games across all four Xbox console generations, and IGN notes all eight scored an 8 out of 10 or higher on its site.

His exit lands as Turn 10 itself disappears as a separate studio. It was merged with Playground Games, the Forza Horizon developer, last month as part of Xbox's ongoing restructuring, and it's now officially named Playground Games Redmond.

Eurogamer ties the merger to Xbox's wider restructuring, which it says led to 3200 layoffs and four studio closures earlier this year.

The outlook for Motorsport itself isn't great. Turn 10 was hit by layoffs last year, and the remaining team was reportedly moved onto support work for Forza Horizon. Forza Motorsport won't be getting any more new content, and IGN suggests 2023's Forza Motorsport, originally pitched as a platform to build on over time, could be the last entry for the foreseeable future. PC Gamer called Greenawalt's departure "Another nail in Motorsport's coffin."

Microsoft hasn't said what's next for the Motorsport series, or who, if anyone, will take over Greenawalt's role.