Microsoft may be buying Playground Games

UK developer Playground Games could be about to be acquired by Microsoft. A PDF document posted on the UK Government’s Companies House website reveals that on May 29th, Keith Ranger Dolliger was appointed as a new director within Playground Games.

Even the service address listed points to Microsoft, and that’s no coincidence. A quick Google search shows that Mr. Dollinger has been a Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Business and Corporate Development at Microsoft Corporation for quite a long time. Furthermore, and here’s the bulk of the rumor, he has been appointed as Director on a long list of companies such as LinkedIn, Rare, Skype, Lionhead, Groove Networks, Havok, Xamarin and more. What do all these companies have in common? That’s easy – at some point, they were acquired by Microsoft.

Playground Games is responsible for the Forza Horizon series, a staple entry in Microsoft’s Xbox catalogue, exclusive to its console and PC ecosystem. The studio is also reportedly working on a new Fable title. The Xbox RPG staple was left in uncertain ground following the closure of Lionhead. There appears to be clear, close ties between the two companies, and an acquisition would make a fair amount of sense.

Microsoft has not officially confirmed the acquisition, but the company has made noise about improving its first-party library.

It’s possible we’ll see some news at E3 if not before.

Playground has been expanding, buying a bigger office in its native Leamington Spa. Last year the studio said it wanted to be doubling its workforce.

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