Lighthouse Games, AAA Lamington Spaid -based studios, which was created in 2022 by Playground Games co -founder and former studio head Gwen Rubern, revealed that it was producing a “disruption” driving game and investing it.
CEO Reburn and Publishing Director Alex Britti spoke exclusively Games Industry.Bs About the next steps for the studio.
Although the details about the game are very early, it is intended to launch the playground’s Fortza Horizon series – partially because the Xbox Open World Driving Game has shown how high the roof is for success.
“Now the racing market is very healthy, it is very good, it is doing well,” says Riberon. “But if you look at the market, you look at the horizon … The number of people I have talked about, who played the horizon, would say, ‘I didn’t think I like racing games, but I like the horizon’ – it was very successful.
“If you look at the income of the game now, it has defeated Gran Tormso, F -1 Speed and staff needs. This horizon is already before going to the Play Station. It is widespread. I think what he has done to the market, though all the other developers are now doing this horizon.
“So the market is successful if you are developing an open world game with cars, but all of these racing (developers) are providing a kind of game. It is a chance for us to be very different and distracted in the racing market.”
The Reburn does not offer further indications on the Lighthouse’s first game, just when it is working on the horizon, the purpose is to invent.
“I will say that we are not building the horizon. If I wanted to build horizon 6, 7 and 8, I would have been in the playground. (We) did not want to do so, we wanted to do something new. And now we are doing it.”
After that, the opposition, the driving game can be different about what it can be.
“I think what the horizon has shown is that the game is a real desire to play games with cars,” says Reburn. “I think this has been a low sector of the audience for the past 10-15 years. And I think the horizon has been a bit shaking, and that’s why others are trying to copy the formula.
“But once again, that’s why we think there is room for disturbance. People want more experiences. They don’t just want the horizon, and you are not really many places. You can go to the market indi area. Yes, you can get some games there.
Working with an unrealistic engine has helped the studio experience quickly detect its vision.
“Working with merely unrealistic compared to basipok engines is a revelation,” says Riberon. “It’s just so fast. You deliver it correctly, you’ve set it well – it’s a hack of a powerful tool. So we are really enjoying the creativity that it has helped to remove.”
“I would say that we are not making horizons. If I wanted to make horizons 6, 7 and 8, I would have been in the playground.”
Gwen Reburn, Lighthouse Games
When we talked to Reburn in September 2023, there were close to 30 staff in the studio. Now, it is up to 130, with the additional funding of tensiles helping to expand it.
“The surprising thing is that 45 of them have followed me with playground sports, and before (this) code masters, and they are some of the best people I have ever worked with. So I am really happy with it. (We are) now looking for 130 people.”
Reburn says hiring studios has been “easy”. A fox area is making sure that the company’s culture is fine, with a dedicated Opse team when they board the ship.
To create a harmonious team, the Lighthouse first hired its leadership, then hired them under their subordinates. The Reburn himself tries to join every interview.
For a new studio, working with tensiles has given the Lighthouse a lot of opportunities to support his thinking around the game.
“Tennsors have been an amazing partner for us, thinking far beyond a company,” says Riberon. “They are very supportive of our team and vision for our game.
“For example, the intelligence of their market has been a real win for us. This is a real unique benefit of such a wide range of skills and data, because it allows us to make better, faster and more important decisions. As a startup, this level of experience and data is accessible, it is incredible.”
The right companion
The vision behind the game, though, is fully in control of the studio. Lighthouse Games is still talking to publishers about its first project.
“We are now focusing on securing the right type of publication partnership to allow our vision to bring our vision to the market,” says Burti, who has been experiencing years experience with Formula One Games, including Formula One Games.
“It is currently running at the moment and most of the studios focuses on different supply to help us achieve it.
“Once we have that partnership, it will give us the right runway to start construction of a future roadmap to hire us, and it can facilitate us to enable the right people to get this vision.”
When asked if the existing industry trends have made any publication agreement more difficult, Berti noted that an important factor is providing confidence to publishers that the studio is about to supply a high quality product with a clear target market. At a time where athletes never compete for the attention of the players, this matter has to be made an important piece of the puzzle.
“I will not say that it is difficult or easy,” Berti explained. “I think if you’ve got the right vision, you will always find a partner. We have a great interest in the company’s legacy, the quality of the team, and the innovation and disruption of what we are doing here. So there is no shortage of interest, and we are still in a really interesting place.”
Riberon has compared the current moment’s riots to the industry playground sports that came 15 years ago.
“Asked the truth, this is not more different than 2010. We created the background of the 2008 accident (against them). All the publishers were trying to get into mobile and were worried about investing in new AAA content at the time.
“Likewise now, the drivers are slightly different, but there is a chance to survive the strongest alive. If you have found a strong team and you have got a strong vision, you will have all the opportunities to work with the best publishers, and we are getting it.”
The Lighthouse is entering a driving gender in a scenario that mirrors the playground sports games: to defeat a long -running market leader. Rubin is here before, just now he is creating his own.
“If you’ve got a strong team and you have got a strong vision, you will get all the opportunities to work with the best publishers, and that’s what we are getting.”
Gwen Reburn, Lighthouse Games
“I think the biggest fish in the pond is really horizontal,” said Riberon when he was asked what game the studio saw on this genre to check the temperature. “So this is what we are focusing on beating. In the early days, it is interesting to work in the playground. When we signed an agreement with the Xbox for the horizon, there were a lot of driving studios around it, but there was a game that dominated the market and it was dominant.
“So this was the game we focused on. We defeated it by horizon 3. I think this time, a game that is really the biggest fish of the pond and this is the horizon. This is the game that we have to defeat.”
The Lighthouse Games is not the only studio with the playground sports players, which have identified the opportunity to refresh this genre.
It is noteworthy that, in the AAA’s place, the number of studios that is actually making driving or racing games is very few. Riberon has also seen as an opportunity.
“I think what is innovation. Can you innovate? There is always room for innovation. There is always room for something new.
“This extraction shooter is not like the space or the first person’s shooter space. There are not many driving studios and when you look at the quality, you think there is a real opportunity to do something different.
“It’s interesting to me: There are not many players in our field and I know we can make something very good, (that) we can disrupt. It’s very interesting.”
