A new game development studio called Lighthouse Games, founded by Gavin Raeburn, who helped create the massively successful Forza Horizon series, has announced it’s working on a brand-new driving game. The goal? To challenge the biggest players in the genre by doing something completely different. This ambitious project is getting a boost with fresh funding from Tencent, the global tech giant.
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Here’s the exciting part: Lighthouse Games isn’t just aiming to make another open-world driving game like the ones dominating the market. They want to shake things up and offer players a truly new experience.
Who is Lighthouse Games?
Lighthouse Games was founded in 2022 in Leamington Spa, UK, by Gavin Raeburn. If that name sounds familiar to car game fans, it’s because Raeburn was a co-founder and former head of Playground Games, the studio behind the critically acclaimed Forza Horizon series. He’s joined by other seasoned developers, including publishing director Alex Bertie, who previously worked on titles like the F1 games.
Taking on the Giants: A New Kind of Driving Game
While specific details about the game are still under wraps, Raeburn and Bertie have made their intentions clear: they are directly aiming at the market dominated by titles like Forza Horizon. However, they emphasize they are not building a Forza Horizon clone.
Raeburn explained that while Horizon has shown there’s a huge audience for games with cars, many developers are now simply copying that successful open-world formula. This, he believes, creates an opportunity for Lighthouse Games to step in with something truly unique. “We’re not building Horizon,” Raeburn stated, explaining he would have stayed at Playground if that was the goal. Instead, they want to explore “huge areas” of potential in car games that aren’t currently being served.
Why the Driving Genre Needs Disruption
The team at Lighthouse Games sees the current driving game landscape as successful, largely thanks to Forza Horizon‘s massive appeal, even drawing in players who didn’t think they liked racing games. Horizon‘s revenue, according to Raeburn, even surpasses major series like Gran Turismo, F1, Need for Speed, and The Crew combined before its PlayStation release.
However, the studio feels this success has led to a lack of variety. With many developers following the Horizon blueprint, Lighthouse Games believes there’s a demand for different types of experiences involving cars that aren’t currently available in the mainstream AAA space. Their project aims to fill that gap.
Building the Dream Team
When GamesIndustry.biz spoke to Raeburn in late 2023, the studio had around 30 staff. Thanks to the additional funding from Tencent, Lighthouse Games has rapidly expanded and now boasts a team of 130 people, with plans to hire around 50 more.
A significant portion of the team — 45 individuals — followed Raeburn from Playground Games and Codemasters, bringing extensive experience in developing high-quality driving and racing titles. The studio has focused on building a strong culture and has found hiring “remarkably easy,” attracting top talent drawn by the vision of creating something new.
Lighthouse Games CEO Gavin Raeburn and Publishing Director Alex Bertie discussing their new driving game
The Power of Tencent’s Partnership
Working with Tencent has been a major advantage for the young studio. Tencent, particularly its Venture Lab team, has provided not just financial backing but also valuable support, insights, market intelligence, and data metrics. This access helps Lighthouse Games make faster, better-informed decisions, which is crucial for a start-up.
While Tencent offers strategic support, the creative vision for the game remains firmly in the hands of the Lighthouse Games team. They are currently in talks with potential publishers to bring their debut title to market.
Navigating the Industry and Aiming High
Securing a publishing deal requires convincing partners of the studio’s ability to deliver a high-quality product with a clear target audience. Alex Bertie noted that while the industry has its challenges, the strong legacy of the founders, the quality of the team, and the project’s innovative potential have generated “a huge amount of interest.”
Raeburn compares the current market climate to when Playground Games was founded 15 years ago, following the 2008 financial crash. Despite challenges, he believes strong teams with clear visions will find opportunities.
He openly states that Forza Horizon is “the biggest fish in the pond” and the game Lighthouse Games aims to “beat.” This echoes his past experience at Playground, where they focused on surpassing Need for Speed, successfully doing so by Horizon 3. Now, the target is his own former creation.
Lighthouse Games isn’t the only studio with Playground pedigree looking to innovate in the genre; Maverick Games is also developing a narrative-focused driving game. However, Raeburn sees the relatively small number of AAA studios focused on driving games as a significant opportunity for disruption and innovation. He is confident the team can create something “great” and truly “disruptive.”
The journey for Lighthouse Games is just beginning, but with experienced leadership, a rapidly growing team, strategic backing from Tencent, and a clear vision to innovate, their quest to redefine the driving game genre is one to watch.
