Could Forza Horizon 5 Release Before Forza Motorsport?

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Could Forza Horizon 5 Release Before Forza Motorsport?

This article was published by Gary Slater (@AudiMan2011) on November 28th, 2020 in the Forza Series category.

 

[inCloud]

It would be the most logical move by Microsoft:
First of all, FM need to be completely redesigned, but Horizon is perfectly fine and just need more map related content(maybe more balancing for PvP and better progression system).
Second, Horizon could be made crossgen and could generate alot of money, while Motorsport could get a fresh start as next gen title with good install base in 2022.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

I honestly hope not, I really want a new Motorsport game now. I need to be driving on racing circuits again in Forza.

If it is, the I hope for FH5 to give me more variety of road circuits to drive on or at least the ability to hot lap around custom routes.

 

[PJTierney]

Could Forza Horizon 5 Release Before Forza Motorsport?

Betteridge's Law of Headlines says No



In all seriousness though, I see no evidence to back up a potential 2021 Forza Horizon release (or Motorsport for that matter), other than "it's 3 years since the last one and that's a long time".

Playground are still on a hiring spree too and while many of the Forza Team roles could potentially be backfill for existing staff there's so many roles open that it lead me to believe they're not in the deep end of development yet.

 

[PorscheHD]

2022 is waaaaaaay to late for a Motorsport. Iam in need of a new one Forza 7 is to old no updates just dead...... amd there are now games for me alike on Xbox console.... and i dont want to buy a PS5 for Gran Turismo.....

 

[RolexGTP]

I highly doubt it. The way i see it is that the new FM will most likely release holidays of next year while FH5 will be a year after, 2022. This gives them plenty of time to still focus on FH4 probably deep into 2021 like T10 did with FM7 then by the summer time they can hone in and start major preparations for FH5.

 

[mastergracie]

As long as FH5 is set in Japan it doesn't matter if it launches first than FM8.

 

[GBalao888]

I honestly don't think so. We need the next Motorsport title before the next Horizon.

After all, I wanna play a newer Motorsport with every car from Motorsport 7 plus those from Horizon 4 (including a mix of new ones and returning cars from the Xbox 360 era), because Motorsport 7 itself is already starting to look a little dated, the more we wait for this.

 

[deththrasher]

It would be the most logical move by Microsoft:
First of all, FM need to be completely redesigned, but Horizon is perfectly fine and just need more map related content(maybe more balancing for PvP and better progression system).
Second, Horizon could be made crossgen and could generate alot of money, while Motorsport could get a fresh start as next gen title with good install base in 2022.

Oh god yes, I doubt it though. They seem to be going for the "kidz" crowd these days

 

[SDSPOWER01]

Not to be a a pain in the arse here @AudiMan2011 but there is a typo in the article :
In addition, the Horizon series has also overtaken Motorsport as the franchise’s sales juggernaut in recent years. FH3 outstripped FH7‘s lifetime sales to date, and FH4 is by far the most popular car-based Xbox exclusive game in the console’s history.
I Believe the H is supposed to be an M. 👍

 

[Franske]

That means that FH5 will be on the old engine and the new cars have to be made again for the next FM. Don't think so unless FM is 3 years or more away (what has Turn 10 done after FM7 was finished).

 

[Razamataz]

I can’t see Microsoft being comfortable with Motorsport skipping 2021. Holiday release at the absolute latest. Besides, what could possible take so long? Just up-res the tracks and cars and tinker with the physics - job done!

 

[JoshMead]

I hope not, I've been very much looking forward to the new Motorsport title. I think I've watched that teaser some fifty times now.

Not quite sure how players would react either. Jumping straight from FH4 to FH5 wouldn't be as impactful as flip-flopping between Horizon and Motorsport. You've got to starve people of what they love for a time if you want them to get truly excited for more of it. Depending on the new locale, I don't think many would be sold on jumping from FH4 to FH5 right away. Particularly with the former still being quite active online, and available for the new console gen.

 

[FT-1]

Oh god yes, I doubt it though. They seem to be going for the "kidz" crowd these days

True, the increasingly sandbox nature of the series is making the series become stale for long term fans. But hey, kids and the very large casual market love instant gratification and that's where the money is.

With that said, much like how Forza Motorsport is going for a series reboot, now would be a good opportunity for the Horizon series to do the same. It probably won't be popular with those who like to collect all their dream cars within 30 minutes of gameplay initally, but going for a narrative-driven approach similar to the original Horizon would create a more rewarding and worthwhile experience for all players.

 

[ManteoMax]

Grubb could be right because he knows something, or he could be right because stopped clocks are right now and then, or he could be just trying to offer some content for a podcast. But 'one journalist makes a statement so let's make a headline out of it' is not the standard I'm looking for, especially since Grubb offered no evidence to back up his thought. If Gary Slater had written this article two weeks ago saying he "thinks" we might see FH5 before FM, would VentureBeat make a headline out of that? And despite Gary writing "It’s a surprising call, but there is some evidence to support it." I see zero evidence in this article to support that - in fact, the immediate sentences after that support the idea that there's no basis to draw that conclusion. "There’s certainly a lot of sense to it" What sense? The only evidence available to date surely would lean toward the conclusion that FM will come before FH5:

- Turn 10 stated publicly back in March 2019 "The weight of our team is shifting over to our next project." followed by five more Forza Monthly livestreams commenting on the progress of the work, and in December 2019 "The studio got a first chance at actually playing this new experience all day long." In May 2020 Chris Esaki tweeted "The lockdown certainty put our initial plans on hold - with licensing issues it is difficult to run public playtests and we r working that." In contrast, Playground Games has made no such comments on even shifting to the next project; they continue to develop FH4; and presumably COVID19 issues affecting T10 would affect PG as well? It's not proof, but wouldn't all this at least logically suggest T10 would be further along in its development timeline than PG? https://forums.forzamotorsport.net/...out-Forza-Motorsport--July-Forza-Monthly.aspx

- We've seen actual gameplay of Forza Motorsport and nothing of the next Forza Horizon; wouldn't that logically support FM before FH5?

- "The game also has no confirmed release window, let alone a solid date. This all rather suggests it’s quite some way off — 2022 or further." Neither has a confirmed release window or date, which makes that point moot. And lack of info doesn't suggest anything: In previous years Forza's official release date reveals occurred in as little as three months before the game was shipped.

- "If Microsoft is wanting to shift consoles across 2021, it makes more sense to get FH5 out ahead of Forza Motorsport." Maybe? Wouldn't a counter argument be that if they wanted to really sell consoles they'd have released a Forza game at the launch of Series X? And that the continued success of FH4 (Which Playground teased just this month is getting some exciting updates in December 2020) is strong enough to sell consoles already? Forza has stated in the past that they don't necessarily consider other racing franchises/consoles as competition, but if sales were an issue wouldn't it make sense to release a competitor to PS's upcoming Gran Turismo 7 first?

I'm as interested in what's coming next as anyone else, but I'm trying not to let desperation for information lead me to jump to baseless conclusions. 2020 had enough "Maybe it will happen, maybe it won't, we'll see" hedging, Gambler's Fallacy predictions, and 'I want this to be true, therefore I believe it must be true' statements in the news that I would really welcome some solid fact-based news for 2021.

 

[RaceFuchs]

Playground could be busy with Fable. I wouldnt be shocked if a different team brings Forza Horizon 5 next year. However, Forza 8 got teased first. I dont see Microsoft marketing two Forzas at once. Imagine Activision showing a teaser for Black Ops Cold War 2, but Modern Warfare 2 gets released first. No, i think we are getting Forza 8 next year or no Forza at all.

 

[McLaren]

I hope not. I've been playing Horizon 4 a bit more recently, even extended my Game Pass to keep playing it for a few more months. Really want to see its car list (or the bulk of it) carry on to a Motorsport game.

 

[BeardedWolf]

Part of me wants to be snarky and go "What? Of course it's not going to come out before Forza Motorsport, that already came out." But we all know you're talking about Forza Motorsport 8. You know, for the sake of sanity, just add the number even if Microsoft won't. It's nearly 2021. I'm pretty sure most everyone can count now. Unless you're a toddler...or your name rhymes with dump

P.S. I'm joking. I know some of you don't know what that is. That was a joke, too. Smile a bit more.

 

[d25bev]

Personally I loved Motorsport 7 & Horizon 3... not 4. Whilst many things were an improvement in 4 from the 3rd one, the whole of H4 felt so pointless.

An almost non-existent progression system with no meaningful goal or small story to progress in & reap rewards from just left me feeling like playing was a waste of time. Not saying i didn't have fun at times or enjoy parts, but even things like showcases were given away almost instantly. 1-3hrs in the game & you could go do all the showcases. I won't even mention the wheelspin reward system which was already not great in H3 & was only made worse for 4.

I really missed feeling like i had a goal & something to achieve. In H3 you at least had the festivals to unlock & build up. The rewards & race unlocks were managed better too. Another example were race results. In H4, no matter what position you finished, it didn't matter. The money & 'progression' were virtually identical.

 

[Populuxe]

As a dedicated Horizon fan, I wouldn't mind this being true. In fact I plan to skip future Motorsports installments.

 

[R33GTRLM]

95% certain this is not happending. Motorsport and Horizon use a shared version of the core game simply entitled "Forza Tech," each game brings new updates to the core engine that the next title is able to use. Since 2018/2019 (memory a little fuzzy), the Motorsport has been working updating Forza tech for

-Ray tracing
-New physics engine
-new sound engine
-more car customization
-work on updating/replacing old car models
-optimizing for next gen

While I am not saying Horizon 5 isn't under development it is highly unlikley they would leapfrog titles without reaping the full benefit of next gen development. If you want Horizon 5 to be the best it could possbily be you definitely would want FM8 to come out first so FH5 can take full advantage of all the new features/cars/updates/et...

 

[SomeGamer2021]

I wouldn't mind, I never was into the Motorsport side of Forza. Also, hi, new to the forum. Nice to meet y'all!

 

[Corsa]

I wouldn't mind, I never was into the Motorsport side of Forza. Also, hi, new to the forum. Nice to meet y'all!

I would mind, I was never into the Horizon side of Forza. Hi and welcome to the forum!

And where's GTR3 since we're discussing upcoming titles.

 

[inCloud]

95% certain this is not happending. Motorsport and Horizon use a shared version of the core game simply entitled "Forza Tech," each game brings new updates to the core engine that the next title is able to use. Since 2018/2019 (memory a little fuzzy), the Motorsport has been working updating Forza tech for

-Ray tracing
-New physics engine
-new sound engine
-more car customization
-work on updating/replacing old car models
-optimizing for next gen

While I am not saying Horizon 5 isn't under development it is highly unlikley they would leapfrog titles without reaping the full benefit of next gen development. If you want Horizon 5 to be the best it could possbily be you definitely would want FM8 to come out first so FH5 can take full advantage of all the new features/cars/updates/et...

Mr. Spencer already told us that all Xbox game studios titles before 2022 would be crossgen. Which means that next Forza will come in 2022 in form of FM, or in 2021 in form of FH5 for both generations. Sure it could be same bullcrap as "Sony believe in generations"

 

[MNFRMTMRRW]

Mr. Spencer already told us that all Xbox game studios titles before 2022 would be crossgen. Which means that next Forza will come in 2022 in form of FM, or in 2021 in form of FH5 for both generations. Sure it could be same bullcrap as "Sony believe in generations"

My take on this:

• Forza Motorsport will 100% be a full next-gen showcase title. I just don't see it any other way since the team just started from scratch not too long ago and Microsoft needs such a game badly.
• When it is indeed a full next-gen title, 2022 is indeed most likely since they started in 2019 and 3 years is the minimum development time for this type of game. Also it is widely known that the Xbox next-gen development kits were delayed because RDNA 2 wasn't ready yet.
• Microsoft could be in a position where they want to still profit from the 50+ million active Xbox one users. So having a (new) Horizon game based on the engine of Horizon 4 would make some sense, since it has more mass appeal and a current-gen Motorsport release isn't all that appealing, to be honest. I wouldn't be surprised if this could be a remaster of Forza Horizon 2 or potentially 3.
• Further evidence could be that Panic Button did the Series S|X update for Horizon 4. Panic Button has a reputation of being a very good port studio, and therefore it would make sense that they would do a Forza Horizon 2 or 3 remaster. This would free up the second team at Playground to work on the next-generation engine that is likely to be shared between Playground and Turn 10 (if Microsoft is smart).
• So my predictions:
  • 2021: Forza Horizon 2 or 3 remaster
  • 2022: Fora Motorsport 8
  • 2023: Forza Horizon 5
  • Wildcard prediction: Forza Motorsport and Horizon will be merged into one massive open-world live service game, with both circuit and open-world racing.

 

[MSiAventador]

The faster the release - the smaller the size of the game world, alas

 

[SportCoaster]

Personally, I could wait another year or two for the 5th Forza Horizon. I hope it allows custom music from inside the console, not that One Drive which can't be used anymore.

And no live services! Please! These will become absolutely barren and terrible once the official servers terminate, maybe even becoming nothing more than something to place a drinking glass on.

 

[PJTierney]

But 'one journalist makes a statement so let's make a headline out of it' is not the standard I'm looking for, especially since Grubb offered no evidence to back up his thought. If Gary Slater had written this article two weeks ago saying he "thinks" we might see FH5 before FM, would VentureBeat make a headline out of that?

I agree, though "one liners forming full articles" is common across all news media these days. An article with a question mark at the end of the title does generate clicks/discussion though, so mission accomplished I guess

Like you I see no reason for Horizon to come out before Motorsport, given we've known about a Motorsport project for over a year and haven't heard a peep about Horizon, and knowing what I do know about racing games development I don't see either Forza title coming out in 2021. That's totally fine for me, they can take all the time they want to create a stellar product, or they can rush to meet a deadline and release something that contains many compromises.

 

[Famine]

It's amazing how much offence people can take at an article that offers an entirely balanced take on a statement from a well-known industry insider.

Interesting that Eurogamer, VGC, and GamesRadar - among others - are now also publishing articles on this exact topic too.

 

[Northstar]

Honestly I could see it happening, Horizon's arcade nature means they can use a simpler form of the (hopefully completely new) engine and putting all the location modeling assets into one location likely makes that process quicker as well.

Regardless of which one comes first I just hope both are given the time they need to fully reach their potential.