Pretty muchThat wasn't an issue for them when they announced State of Decay 2 and Dead Rising 4 in the same e3 conference and they were originally due out within about 8/9 months of each other.
Maybe their pitch was shit but given the lack of top quality independent developers they can work with and the ridiculously high quality of forza Horizon 3, i personally would take a very long hard think about letting playground go elsewhere even if the game itself wasn't necessarily something in an area I needed. For Microsoft I think it would be a huge mistake, great for pc and PlayStation owners though.
They should be looking to tie them down in a long partnership or acquire (I know I know RIP) not say "we have a similar game sorry lads"
Also who knows if State of Decay repeats its past success and lives on. By the time this game launches the marker could've changed significantly
I don't think similar games is necessary a huge turn off, not should it be with certain developers and the changing market.
It doesn't matter what type of game Playground want to make the quality is there and FH is probably the best franchise they have left these days in terms of sales and reception. MS should be getting behind them 100%, if not even purchasing them.
And even if that was the reason which I doubt tbh (I also doubt it's a zombie game too as they're kind of dying out except for TLOU, plus given their history I'd expect it to be something more like GTA with driving involved), then Phil clearly needs to be woken up because who the hell would pick DR4 or SOD2 over a Playground game? Nothing against them but one is 3p/multiplat and the other is AA/lower budget.
Honestly even if their pitch was shit it's still worth a gamble, if it doesn't look good a few month in then kill it & allow them to go elsewhere but at least give them a shot. Playground is a top tier developer these days, it's worth keeping onto them.