Forza
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|---|---|
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| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Developer(s) | Turn 10 Studios Playground Games (Horizon series) |
| Publisher(s) | Xbox Game Studios |
| Platform(s) | Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows, iOS, Android |
| Platform of origin | Xbox |
| Original release | May 3, 2005 |
| First release | Forza Motorsport / May 3, 2005 |
| Latest release | Forza Motorsport (2023) / October 10, 2023 |
| Spinoffs | Forza Horizon, Forza Street, Forza Customs |
| Official website | Forza Motorsport.net |
Forza (Italian for "power") is a racing video game series released exclusively for the range of Xbox consoles and Windows 10 PC's.
The franchise is divided into three series; the original Forza Motorsport series developed by Turn 10 Studios, which focuses on professional-style track racing simulation events, and the open world-styled Forza Horizon series developed by Playground Games, which revolves around a fictitious "annual" music and racing festival called the "Horizon Festival" that is held in fictional representations of real world areas. The third and most recent installment in the franchise, Forza Street is a free-to-play racing game developed by Electric Square that was initially released for Windows 10 as Miami Street on May 8, 2018 and rebranded as Forza Street a year later. The game was released for Windows 10 and will also be released for mobile devices as well at a later date.
Games[]
Motorsport[]
| Title | Year | XBOX | X360 | XONE | XSX/XSS | Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forza Motorsport | 2005 | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Forza Motorsport 2 | 2007 | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Forza Motorsport 3 | 2009 | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Forza Motorsport 4 | 2011 | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Forza Motorsport 5 | 2013 | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Forza Motorsport 6 | 2015 | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Forza Motorsport 6: Apex | 2015 | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Forza Motorsport 7 | 2017 | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Forza Motorsport (2023) | 2023 | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Horizon[]
| Title | Year | XBOX | X360 | XONE | XSX/XSS | Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forza Horizon | 2012 | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Forza Horizon 2 | 2014 | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious | 2015 | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Forza Horizon 3 | 2016 | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Forza Horizon 4 | 2018 | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Forza Horizon 5 | 2021 | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Other[]
| Title | Year | XBOX | X360 | XONE | XSX/XSS | Windows | Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forza Street | 2019 | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Forza Customs | 2023 | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
History[]
Turn 10 Studios began working on the original Forza Motorsport to fill the void of simulation racing games on the Xbox console. With an emphasis on driving dynamics and the newest features of Xbox LIVE, the original Forza Motorsport was released in May 2005.
Following the release of Forza Motorsport, Turn 10 Studios immediately began working on a sequel intended to be released on Microsoft’s then-new Xbox 360 console. Forza Motorsport 2 was released in May 2007, pushing the boundaries of User Generated Content (UGC) with a robust livery editor and online Auction House, giving casual players new options for expressing their creativity on and off the track.
In late 2007, Turn 10 Studios began an intense development process for the next Forza installment: Forza Motorsport 3, which boasted enhanced graphics, driving physics, and UGC. Turn 10 released the game in October 2009.
At E3 2010 a tech demo for Forza Motorsport 4 was first revealed. The live demonstration showcased a passing challenge while driving the 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia. Using the Kinect sensor the player steered the car to pass opponents. Forza Motorsport 4 was formally unveiled at the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards and then released a year later in October 2011.
With Forza Horizon on Xbox 360, developed with Playground Games, the Forza universe expanded to the open road. Action racing put the player in an open world that demands driving skill and rewards driving style. With lots to explore and a cutting-edge soundtrack to compliment the scenery, Horizon was an evolution of the authentic Forza experience.
In 2013, Turn 10 released Forza Motorsport 5, the first Forza Motorsport game to appear on Xbox One. Featuring new generation graphics and features like cloud-powered Drivatar opponents, Forza Motorsport 5 ushered in the next generation of console racing simulations.
In 2014 a sequel to the successful Forza Horizon was released, Forza Horizon 2. Featuring the wide-open spaces of Southern Europe to explore in hundreds of realistic, real-world cars. The game featured full day-night cycle and, for the first time in Forza, weather effects. In March 2015, Turn 10 released Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious, a standalone expansion for Forza Horizon 2, inspired by the Fast & Furious film series and featuring many of the cars from Universal Studios's blockbuster action film, Furious 7.
In 2015, Forza Motorsport 6 was released for Xbox One, offering more than double the number of cars available in Forza Motorsport 5 as well as introducing night and rain to the core Forza franchise for the first time. While Forza Horizon 2 did have night and rain, it lacked the realism of those introduced in Forza Motorsport 6. While night appears as a dark day in many other games, including Forza Horizon 2, it is truly pure blackness in Forza Motorsport 6. Rain does not simply make for a slightly slicker track surface and wet look, but instead makes a significant performance difference and three-dimensional puddles can spin cars if approached improperly. The game also increased the number of cars on track to twenty-four; up from sixteen in Forza Motorsport 5 and twelve in Forza Horizon 2.
On June 13, 2016, Forza Horizon 3 was announced during Microsoft's E3 Xbox briefing. The game was then released 2 months later on September 27, 2016, for Xbox One and Microsoft Windows. The game is set in Australia in a much larger map compared to previous games in the Horizon series.
A year later at Microsoft's 2017 E3 Xbox briefing, Turn 10 Studios announced Forza Motorsport 7 and at the same time unveiled the new 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS. Forza Motorsport 7 includes many new features andd to focuses more on customization than previous games in the motorsport series.
In 2018, Forza Horizon 4 was announced. Forza Horizon 4 includes many new features, the biggest being dynamic seasons which change on a weekly basis and greatly affects different aspects gameplay. The cover car is the McLaren Senna and the 1997 Land Rover Defender 90.
Forza Street, the first Forza game to be released on mobile was released in 2019. It was released for Windows 10 earlier in the year and mobile devices a year later in May 2020. The game was highly criticized for its very basic gameplay and excessive use of micro-transactions.
During the 2020 Xbox Games Showcase, it was revealed that brand new Forza Motorsport game was being developed for the Xbox Series X. A release date was not given and only a short reveal trailer was shown. The new title would not be shown again until the 2022 Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase, in which a new trailer would be shown in addition to five minutes of gameplay running on the Xbox Series X. The game was given a release date of Spring 2023 but was eventually pushed back to late 2023. Another trailer and demo of the game's career mode was shown at the 2023 Xbox Games Showcase. The title was released later that year on October 5, 2023 for players that bought the ultimate edition of the game and October 10, 2023 for those that bought the standard edition or playing via Game Pass.