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 ideshut 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."

Project Gotham Racing ran from 2001 until 2007, with the first two games released on the original Xbox and the last two (outside of two mobile spin-offs) released on the Xbox 360. It became a beloved series, promoting stylish street racing over sheer mastery. Sadly PGR was shelved after Activision bought series developer Bizarre Creations and, despite the license staying with Xbox, we've never seen another entry. In 2010, Microsoft was said to be looking for a new developer, but one seemingly wasn't found – potentially because Playground was put to work on something new.

Playground must have pitched a new PGR not long after Bizarre was bought, as the first Forza Horizon game was also released for Xbox 360 in 2011, serving as a more casual, open counterpart to the mainline, simulation-based Forza Motorsport franchise.

Forza Horizon was instantly popular and received praise from critics and players (with IGN calling it amazing), and the franchise has gone from strength to strength since. The fourth instalment received a 9.6/10 from us, while last year's Forza Horizon 5 was deemed a masterpiece and awarded IGN's Game of the Year.

In our 10/10 review, we said: "Forza Horizon 5 is the result of a racing studio at the peak of its craft and the best open-world racing game available."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Kojima Productions has made clear it still has a good relationship with PlayStation, despite announcing an Xbox exclusive game.

Hideo Kojima revealed his studio would be making "a completely new game that no one has ever experienced or seen before" at the Xbox Bethesda Game Showcase on June 12, causing some to question the studio's ties to PlayStation.

"After the announcement of our partnership with Microsoft using the cloud technology, many people have asked us about our collaboration with [Sony Interactive Entertainment]," the Kojima Productions Twitter page posted (below). "Please be rest assured that we continue to have a very good partnership with PlayStation as well."

After the announcement of our partnership with Microsoft using the cloud technology, many people have asked us about our collaboration with SIE. Please be assured that we continue to have a very good partnership with PlayStation® as well.#KojimaProductions https://t.co/mVOELwDuk9

— KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS (Eng) (@KojiPro2015_EN) June 13, 2022

The developer has previously been synonymous with Sony's side due to its only franchise, Death Stranding, being a PlayStation exclusive - even featuring on the PlayStation Studios website. Kojima himself has long been associated with PlayStation, well before the creation of his own studio.

The Xbox announcement led to an outcry among some fans of Kojima, who felt the legendary developer shouldn't move away from his ties to PlayStation. Some have even set up petitions to ask for Kojima Productions not to work on an Xbox game.

But Kojima Productions is an independent studio and, as it said in another tweet, "will explore various possibilities with games, movies, and music through platforms that evolve with time and technology." Kojima himself said of the announcement that he's incorporating Microsoft's "cutting edge technology", particularly cloud streaming, and a "change in the industry's trends" into this new project.

While the project is still in its early stages, it's something the famed developer - most famous for creating the Metal Gear Solid franchise - has always wanted to make. "I've waited very long for the day when I could finally start to create it," he said.

That's not to say Death Stranding is finished, of course, as just recently its lead actor, The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus, leaked that a sequel to the 2019 stealth-action game is in development. In our 6/10 review of the first game, IGN said: "Death Stranding delivers a fascinating world of supernatural sci-fi, but its gameplay struggles to support its weight."

Another supposed Kojima game, a horror title called Overdose, appeared to have leaked earlier this week, but has yet to officially appear publicly.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Half-Life Alyx is one of the best VR games around, and a talented team of modders are building upon the original with a campaign expansion titled Half-Life Alyx: Levitation. At today's PC Gaming Show, seven minutes of gameplay were revealed for the upcoming mod, which follows up on the events from the main game's campaign.

The mod is coming from CS:GO map designer and artist Shawn Snelling, who is known as FMPONE in the modding community, and animator Corey Laddo, who is known among Half-Life fans for creating viral G-Man memes. The two modders, along with a team of volunteer modders, animators, and voice actors, have created the free campaign that takes between four and five hours to complete. The story picks up right after the end of Half-Life Alyx. You can check out the gameplay video below.

The gameplay shown follows Alyx as she battles Combine soldiers and headcrab zombies on her search for the source of a massive energy signature. The gameplay video teases G-Man watching Alyx's moves from the shadows. Half-Life Alyx: Levitation is set to release on the Steam Workshop in Q3 of 2022.

The fan modding community and Half-Life have long been intertwined, as 2020 saw the official release of Black Mesa, a third-party remake of the original Half-Life. Half-Life: Alyx represented the first official entry in the franchise since 2007's Half-Life 2: Episode Two, but hopefully not the last. Speaking to IGN in March of 2020, Half-Life Alyx developer Chris Remo said people at Valve "are very excited about the Half-Life universe".

We awarded Half-Life: Alyx a 10/10 in our review, saying, "Valve has set a new bar for VR in interactivity, detail, and level design, showing what can happen when a world-class developer goes all-in on the new frontier of technology."

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

The Invincible is an upcoming sci-fi exploration game coming from veteran AAA developers, and we got our first look at footage for the game as part of today's PC Gaming Show.

The new gameplay features Dr. Yasna, a scientist exploring a desert planet to find their missing crewmates. The game takes cues from Firewatch, as Dr. Yasna is speaking to a character named Novik on the radio, as they discuss what could have happened to the missing crew. The game's pace is very calm and quiet, letting the players experience the highly-detailed environment and listen to the conversation play out.

The trailer ends with what appears to be Yasna's death, implying the game could feature multiple playable characters. You can check out the gorgeous gameplay for yourself below.

The game's story is inspired by a novel by Polish author Stanislaw Lem. The book, also titled The Invincible, explores the hostile, lifeless planet of Regis 3 after a spaceship crew crash lands there.

The Invincible is in development at Starward Industries, a studio made up of veteran AAA developers with experience on The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Dead Island, and more. It was first revealed in September 2020, and is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC sometime in 2023.

The new studio describes itself as AA built with AAA experience with their website saying, “We want to pursue quality mastered in previous endeavors and to deliver it in smaller, yet even and groundbreaking projects.”

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

We're inching closer and closer to the release of the long-awaited System Shock remake, as the game got a new trailer as part of today's PC Gaming Show.

Today's trailer opened with a voiceover from ther antagonist SHODAN breaking the fourth wall by introducing the trailer to the audience. What followed was new footage of System Shock's first-person gameplay, showcasing shooting, electric swordplay, and some puzzles on the colorful cyberpunk Citadel space station.

The original System Shock released on PC in 1994. It's a horror game set on a spacestation in 2072 called Citadel Station, and players control a hacker tasked with ruining the plans of a rogue AI named SHODAN. No release date for the remake was given, but director of business development Larry Kuperman said development is "largely complete."

"You can play through it from beginning to end, all weapons and enemies are in place and working," Kuperman said. "What remains to be done is what is termed 'polish.' Our goal is that the release version is as close to perfection as possible."

Nightdive Studios first launched its Kickstarter campaign for the System Shock remake back in 2016. After setting a goal of $900,000, the project has raised over $1.3 million in total. If you want a small taste of the game, a demo is currently available on Steam.

For more, you can read up on the live-action System Shock series currently in the works.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

After pausing development due to the war in Ukraine, STALKER 2 now appears to be set for a 2023 release.

Following today's Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, Xbox tweeted a graphic with images of its upcoming games. You'll notice STALKER 2 is listed under the 2023 side of the graphic, seemingly confirming that the game has been delayed again. However, it seems the game is targeting the first half of 2023, as Xbox notes that all games listed in the image are targeting to release over the next 12 months.

✨ VIDEO GAMES ✨ pic.twitter.com/r48l1xE9ln

— Xbox (@Xbox) June 12, 2022

Earlier this year, STALKER 2 was pushed back from April 2022 to December 2022. At the time, GSC Game World said the delay would help the team "fulfill our vision and achieve the desired state of the game."

Shortly after this announcement, Russia's invasion of Ukraine paused development for the Kyiv-based developer. At the time, GSC Game World said "game development shifted to the side-lines" and would continue "after the victory."

Then, just last month, reports emerged saying the developer had resumed work on the game, with rumors saying some of the developers had relocated. Since the development pause, this is the first we've heard of a new release window for STALKER 2.

STALKER was not present in today's Xbox showcase. Instead, the presentation primarily focused on Starfield and Redfall, along with a tease for Hideo Kojima's next project.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

We got a new cinematic look at Ark 2 today, which will now be released in 2023.

At today's Xbox-Bethesda summer showcase, we got a fresh cinematic trailer game – which if you don't remember, stars Vin Diesel – and a new release window, 2023.

Developing...

Forza Horizon 5 is returning to familiar, plasticky ground with a wild-looking Hot Wheels expansion.

Revealed at today's Xbox-Bethesda showcase, the DLC showed off the game's beautiful Mexican setting with added toy-like tracks, like a loop-the-loop through a volcano and into the sky. The DLC launches on July 19, 2022.

Forza Horizon 3 also got a very popular Hot Wheels expansion, which we awarded a 9/10 review, saying it was "a delightful, daring, and different expansion that reinforces Forza Horizon 3’s reputation as one of the best racing games ever made."

Given that we awarded the core Forza Horizon 5 a full 10/10, we can only hope its own Hot Wheels DLC similarly improves on its predecessor.

For more, check out our full roundup from the Xbox-Bethesda showcase. And for everything from this season of big events, check out our Summer of Gaming 2022 schedule.

An aircraft from Halo -- specifically, what looks to be a Pelican -- is coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator, it was announced during today's Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase.

The free add-on is available today. The Halo crossover was just one of a few Flight Simulator-related bits of news announced; it was also revealed that the 40th Anniversary Edition will release in November 2022, and will include classic airplanes, gliders, and helicopters.

Developing...

Overwatch 2 will be adding a new Tank character, the Junker Queen, to the line-up.

As announced in today's Xbox and Bethesda showcase, the Junker Queen is the second new hero announced for Overwatch 2 after Sojourn. The character was referred to within the original Overwatch, but never made a formal onscreen appearance inside the game.

In a cinematic trailer, the Junker Queen is shown in a very Thunderdome-esque brawl for the throne of Junkertown. A full look of the character and her kit will be revealed later, but a brief look at the character's gameplay was in the Overwatch 2 release date trailer.

Fans of the series will know the Junker Queen from Junkrat's animated short, where she was briefly seen on a poster in Junkertown. As in the poster, Junker Queen is a tall and imposing figure who wields a large axe, which she's seen swinging to clear away foes (as well as using a rifle). The Australian ruler of Junkertown (itself an Overwatch map) is described as "ruthless", but her full kit and lore remain to be seen – although we know she's connected to previous characters Roadhog and Junkrat.

Also announced during today's Xbox and Bethesda Showcase was the release date for Overwatch 2's PvP component, which will be arriving on PC and consoles on October 4. Furthermore, Overwatch 2 is switching to a free-to-play model.

Details on what going free-to-play means specifically for Overwatch 2 will also be detailed on the June 16 Reveal Event, so check back with IGN for all the latest details on Overwatch 2 then.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.