Forza (series)

Forza
Forza Motorsport series logo
Genres	Racing
Developers	Turn 10 Studios Playground Games Sumo Digital
Publishers	Microsoft Studios
Platforms	Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows 10
Platform of origin	Xbox
First release	Forza Motorsport May 3, 2005
Latest release	Forza Horizon 3 September 27, 2016

Forza (Italian for "Force" /ˈfɔərtsɑː/) is a series of racing video games for Xbox consoles and Microsoft Windows published by Microsoft Studios. The franchise is currently divided into two series, the original Forza Motorsport series developed by Turn 10 Studios and the open world-focused Forza Horizon series mainly developed by Playground Games.

Forza seeks to emulate the performance and handling characteristics of a large number of real-life production, modified and racing cars. Forza is often seen as Microsoft's answer to Gran Turismo for the PlayStation systems.^[1]

As of February 2010, the Forza games have sold over 10 million copies^[2] since the release of Forza Motorsport in May 2005. As of December 2016, the series has made over a billion US dollars at retail,^[3][4] making Forza one of the highest grossing video game franchises. Over 14 million unique players were registered in the Forza community on Xbox One and Windows 10 by December 2016.^[5]

Games

Forza Motorsport (2005)

Forza Motorsport was released in 2005 and is the first installment in the Forza Motorsport series, a series that has continued on Microsoft's current systems, the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One.

Forza Motorsport 2 (2007)

Forza Motorsport 2 is the first sequel to Forza Motorsport and the first Xbox 360 title in the series. The Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel was developed alongside Forza Motorsport 2 and is designed to work with the game. Prior to the game's release, Microsoft launched Forza Motorsport Showdown, a four-part TV miniseries on Speed. The show was produced by Bud Brutsman and hosted by Lee Reherman.^[16]

Forza Motorsport 3 (2009)

Forza Motorsport 3 includes more than 400 customizable cars (more than 500 cars in the Ultimate Collection version) from 50 manufacturers and more than 100 race track variations with the ability to race up to eight cars on track at a time. These cars vary from production cars to race cars such as those from the American Le Mans Series.

Forza Motorsport 4 (2011)

For Forza Motorsport 4, Turn 10 Studios partnered with BBC's Top Gear (and its American counterpart) to get Jeremy Clarkson, among other Top Gear hosts, to do voices for descriptions, race titles, and the new Autovista mode, which allows players to explore a certain selection of cars in great detail. The game is also the first in the franchise to utilize the Kinect sensor.

Forza Horizon (2012)

Forza Horizon is the first open-road spin-off game based around a fictitious festival called the Horizon Festival, set in the U.S. state of Colorado. The game incorporates many different gameplay aspects from previous Forza Motorsport titles, like the large variety of cars, realistic physics and high definition graphics. The aim is to progress through the game by means of obtaining "Wristbands" by driving fast, destroying property, winning races and other driving antics. Horizon features the physics of Forza Motorsport 4, which have been optimised to work on the 65 variants of terrain said to be present in the game. Players can drive off-road in select areas, while others are limited by guardrails or other means.

Horizon allows the player to "mod up" the car that is selected from the garage by changing numerous features both internally and externally on a car. One can also obtain cars by winning races with random drivers on the street, by winning larger competitive races, and by finding barns that contain treasure cars.

Forza Motorsport 5 (2013)

Forza Motorsport 5 is the first Xbox One Forza game, the fifth in the Motorsport series, and the sixth game in the Forza series. The game expanded on the Top Gear partnership by having Richard Hammond and James May provide commentary alongside Clarkson. The game was first confirmed by the Sebull of Microsoft France.^[17] The game was released on November 22, 2013.^[18]

Forza Horizon 2 (2014)

On September 30, 2014, Forza Horizon 2 was released in North America for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The Xbox One game was developed by Horizon developer Playground Games, with assistance by Turn 10 Studios. The 360 version was developed by Sumo Digital.^[19] The Xbox One version introduced a dynamic weather system to the series. An expansion, Forza Horizon 2: Storm Island, was released on December 16, 2014. A cross-promotional standalone expansion called Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious was released in March 2015 for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The expansion's plot is to collect ten cars by using specially modified cars in different events to get them.

By handing the development of Horizon to Playground Games it seems that Microsoft aims to have a new Forza title released every year, "without making the sacrifices that are commonly seen in yearly franchises handled by one developer. It also seems that the Forza Horizon and Forza Motorsport series will continue as a bi-yearly series, meaning that if a Forza Horizon game comes out, then the next year, a Forza Motorsport game will come out, and then a Horizon game next year, and so on.”^[17]

Forza Motorsport 6 (2015)

Forza Motorsport 6 was officially announced at the North American International Auto Show on January 12, 2015. As part of a development agreement with Ford Motor Company, Turn 10 Studios was given direct access to the design team for the 2017 Ford GT supercar, which is the game's cover vehicle. The game was released on September 15, 2015 for Xbox One.

A free-to-play Windows 10 version of the game, known as Forza Motorsport 6: Apex, was released as a beta on May 5, 2016. On September 6, 2016, it was removed from beta and became a full addition to the franchise.

Forza Horizon 3 (2016)

On June 13, 2016, Microsoft announced Forza Horizon 3 for Windows 10 and Xbox One.^[20] The game is set in Australia, and has the player represented in the game as the host of the Horizon Festival itself. The game launched on September 27, 2016 (September 23 for Ultimate Edition owners). The game launched with over 350 cars, and is the first game in the series to be launched on both Microsoft Windows and Xbox One. As of December 2016, Forza Horizon 3 sold around 2.5 million units.^[3]

An expansion called Blizzard Mountain was released on December 13, 2016 featuring a snow area, the name giving blizzard storms and 8 new cars.^[21]

A second expansion themed around Hot Wheels was released on May 9, 2017. This expansion features a new area called Thrill City and adds orange and blue Hot Wheels track with loops, jumps, corkscrews, boost pads, half-pipes and more. The expansion also includes ten new cars. ^[22]

Forza Motorsport 7 (2017)

On June 11, 2017, Microsoft announced Forza Motorsport 7 for Windows 10 and Xbox One. The game is scheduled to launch on October 3, 2017.^[23]

References

External links

• Official Forza Motorsport site