Forza Horizon 3 Speeds Towards "End of Life" Status on September 27

While I've never played any of the Forza series - I'm on PS, I have to say that this sucks. Now that less and less games are getting a hard media release, and more and more games are digital download only then those that missed the boat will never get a chance to play those titles once the publisher decides to end it.

Previously the publisher would just end the CD/DVD/BR production, but you'd still be able to pick the game up second hand. With digital download there is no way of reselling or even passing on any titles that you own, meaning the game simply dies. And given that a lot of games are really works of art it seems criminal to prevent others from experiencing them.

These days I fully support the cracking and piracy of games where the publisher has abandoned them for whatever reason, be it licensing or the that the publisher is practicing onanism. And the reason I support this is purely for the preservation of these games.

I do not, and never will, support the above for games that are currently available for purchase as games require and incredible, almost infinite amount work to actually bring them to market and the developer and the developer has every right to earn a living from that work.
 
I still kick myself for not getting FH2 before it was taken off. I'll add FH3 to my library since it was my first game on the Xbox One
 
While I've never played any of the Forza series - I'm on PS, I have to say that this sucks. Now that less and less games are getting a hard media release, and more and more games are digital download only then those that missed the boat will never get a chance to play those titles once the publisher decides to end it.
What games are digital only? I honestly can't think of a single Xbox game, off the top of my head. I mean I don't have hard facts with me, but I'm pretty sure that the only games that are digital only are games that are from indie developers.
 
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FH3 was the game that really sucked me into the Horizon series. It's been four years already, but its Australian map and its expansions are still a thing of beauty.

It'll be sad to see it gone. Goodbye and thanks for all the drifts!
 
What games are digital only? I honestly can't think of a single Xbox game, off the top of my head. I mean I don't have hard facts with me, but I'm pretty sure that the only games that are digital only are games that are from indie developers.

The point I'm trying to make is that it isn't going to be this way going forward. From a business perspective there is now no real need to go to the expense of manufacturing hard copies of games, thus there's now more profit margin for the dev or publisher. We as the consumer won't gain anything from this, in fact we'll be put at a severe disadvantage through this trend.

Back in 2011 I bought some DVD series from a guy who said hard media is dead - I laughed and said that would never happen, I'm guessing he's the one chuckling now, and in 3 or 4 years time it'll be a full on raucous laugh.
 
The point I'm trying to make is that it isn't going to be this way going forward. From a business perspective there is now no real need to go to the expense of manufacturing hard copies of games, thus there's now more profit margin for the dev or publisher. We as the consumer won't gain anything from this, in fact we'll be put at a severe disadvantage through this trend.
I get the point you were making, but it doesn't make sense because that really isn't happening, at least not relatively soon by any means. That's why it doesn't make sense to try to make it a point in a thread of a game that it's not happening with, to me.

So is there any games that are digital only?
 
While I already know this will happen sooner or later, I'm still sad that they have to take games and it's DLCs off the digital store simply because of licensing issues and such.

I already own the Ultimate Edition of Horizon 3 but i still haven't bought the Blizzard Mountain, Hot Wheels, Porsche and few car packs yet. Forza horizon 3 will still be the game that made me buy an XB1 in the first place and now with my Windows 10 rig, I can enjoy it in proper 60 fps....if the ports any good.

IMO, FH1 and 2 are still my favourites Horizon games.
 
I get the point you were making, but it doesn't make sense because that really isn't happening, at least not relatively soon by any means. That's why it doesn't make sense to try to make it a point in a thread of a game that it's not happening with, to me.

So is there any games that are digital only?

Oh yeah - the vast majority of the content on Steam for example. One of the biggest releases this year had been Half Life Alyx which does not have a physical copy.

Most stores where I used to go to get physical copies now only have a really small selection of games - mostly old, and most of the floorspace that was previously used for games is now used for gaming peripherals, or something else entirely.

It's happening, physical media for gaming is gasping on its death bed.
 
Oh yeah - the vast majority of the content on Steam for example. One of the biggest releases this year had been Half Life Alyx which does not have a physical copy.
My mistake, I figured you were talking about consoles. That's been a thing for PC for years hasn't it?

Most stores where I used to go to get physical copies now only have a really small selection of games - mostly old, and most of the floorspace that was previously used for games is now used for gaming peripherals, or something else entirely.

It's happening, physical media for gaming is gasping on its death bed.
Eh, it's not really on it's death bed. At least speaking strictly about consoles, which what I was going with. I don't even think there's a discless console as an option anymore on the Xbox side of things. We're still good on that front for the foreseeable future.
 
You can always buy a boxed copy of the game but it’s the DLC where the biggest issues are at. Blizzard Mountain was awesome, if you haven’t bought that by September you’re screwed essentially. Just bought Forza Horizon 2 but there’s no way I’ll be playing the rally DLC.

To be honest I think it’s mainly racing and sports games that have these licensing problems.
 
You can always buy a boxed copy of the game but it’s the DLC where the biggest issues are at. Blizzard Mountain was awesome, if you haven’t bought that by September you’re screwed essentially. Just bought Forza Horizon 2 but there’s no way I’ll be playing the rally DLC.

To be honest I think it’s mainly racing and sports games that have these licensing problems.

I recently picked up a disc copy of FH2 and I ran into this issue. So much DLC locked away for eternity (seemingly half the carlist) with the game already delisted. Its fairly annoying when you're willing to buy the DLC but it doesn't exist anymore. Its a shame that other games haven't had a disc Ultimate version like Forza Motorsport 3 had. That was awesome. Everything released for the game on disc. I'm tempted to buy another 360 just to play that again.

I'll definitely be buying FH3 Ultimate and the Motorsport pack is a bonus as those cars don't exist in FH4.
 
Please pardon my naivete but I only recently bought an Xbox One X. I got it for 2 games: Motorsports 7 and Horizon 4

I am loving these games.

I don't understand what the implications are for a game that is announced as "end of life". But, I'm intrigued and hope you guys can help me make a decision.

If I love Horizon 4, do I need Horizon 3? Are they similar? If I buy it before "end of life" will I be able to play it after? Will I be able to receive credits and gift cars and things like that? My 11 year old daughter loves to play H4 and she feels so proud when she earns me credits or finds me a barn.

Thank you for your patience
 
Please pardon my naivete but I only recently bought an Xbox One X. I got it for 2 games: Motorsports 7 and Horizon 4

I am loving these games.

I don't understand what the implications are for a game that is announced as "end of life". But, I'm intrigued and hope you guys can help me make a decision.

If I love Horizon 4, do I need Horizon 3? Are they similar? If I buy it before "end of life" will I be able to play it after? Will I be able to receive credits and gift cars and things like that? My 11 year old daughter loves to play H4 and she feels so proud when she earns me credits or finds me a barn.

Thank you for your patience

"End of life" means licenses expired (cars/music), so normally after 5 years, Forza games reach this which is why you can't buy Forza Horizon 2, Forza Motorsport 6 digitally now, except on physical disc. DLC is gone for good though for those games if you didn't buy it when it was available.

Some say Horizon 3 (Australia) is better than 4 (UK), it's up to each individual. I like them both but I prefer 4 for the 4 seasons of play. FH3 is X-enhanced like FH4, so it looks beautiful on the Xbox One X. Horizon 3 does have a Hot Wheels map expansion which is actually insane and I'm sure you and your daughter would love.

As for credits, you should have "Forza Hub" app installed on your PC or on the console. Each week, launch it and there will be "rewards" to claim. You claim your free rewards, which is normally based on how far you are in the game and is credits. I get 500K a week, money has never been an issue.

I would say get all the Forza games while you still can. Once the digital content is gone, it's gone.

For Forza Horizon 3, to get "every content" you would need to get:
- Ultimate Edition (VIP, Car Pass, Motorsport Car Pack)
- Expansion Pass (Blizzard Mountain, Hot Wheels expansion maps)
- Porsche Car Pack
- Hoonigan Car Pack
- Mountain Dew Car Pack

Optionally:
Horn Unlock Accelerator
Treasure Map
 
"End of life" means licenses expired (cars/music), so normally after 5 years, Forza games reach this which is why you can't buy Forza Horizon 2, Forza Motorsport 6 digitally now, except on physical disc. DLC is gone for good though for those games if you didn't buy it when it was available.

Some say Horizon 3 (Australia) is better than 4 (UK), it's up to each individual. I like them both but I prefer 4 for the 4 seasons of play. FH3 is X-enhanced like FH4, so it looks beautiful on the Xbox One X. Horizon 3 does have a Hot Wheels map expansion which is actually insane and I'm sure you and your daughter would love.

As for credits, you should have "Forza Hub" app installed on your PC or on the console. Each week, launch it and there will be "rewards" to claim. You claim your free rewards, which is normally based on how far you are in the game and is credits. I get 500K a week, money has never been an issue.

I would say get all the Forza games while you still can. Once the digital content is gone, it's gone.

For Forza Horizon 3, to get "every content" you would need to get:
- Ultimate Edition (VIP, Car Pass, Motorsport Car Pack)
- Expansion Pass (Blizzard Mountain, Hot Wheels expansion maps)
- Porsche Car Pack
- Hoonigan Car Pack
- Mountain Dew Car Pack

Optionally:
Horn Unlock Accelerator
Treasure Map
Thank you for taking the time to write this up. It's excellent, informative, and exactly what I needed.
 
I recently picked up a disc copy of FH2 and I ran into this issue. So much DLC locked away for eternity (seemingly half the carlist) with the game already delisted. Its fairly annoying when you're willing to buy the DLC but it doesn't exist anymore. Its a shame that other games haven't had a disc Ultimate version like Forza Motorsport 3 had. That was awesome. Everything released for the game on disc. I'm tempted to buy another 360 just to play that again.

I'll definitely be buying FH3 Ultimate and the Motorsport pack is a bonus as those cars don't exist in FH4.

Funny you mentioned this, I literally just got the "Platinum Hits" versions of FM2 and FM3 to get all the DLC on disc. It's great to fire up the old games and go after achievements you missed. The only thing that sucks is the Stig Car Pack was an online code for FM3, so it doesn't work, even if it was never used. So that's 3 cars you won't get. The rest though you do. They really should've kept doing this for the Forza games.

For current delisted Xbox One games, would codes work? Wasn't some DLC released separately where you could try to use the codes? When FH3 gets delisted, I know there were definitely Hot Wheels expansion codes out there, so unless they shut down those servers, codes would work I believe. I only mention this because when I was researching about the Stig Car Pack, some were saying after being delisted the codes still worked for about a year.
 
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For current delisted Xbox One games, would codes work? Wasn't some DLC released separately where you could try to use the codes? When FH3 gets delisted, I know there were definitely Hot Wheels expansion codes out there, so unless they shut down those servers, codes would work I believe. I only mention this because when I was researching about the Stig Car Pack, some were saying after being delisted the codes still worked for about a year.

With Forza Horizon 2 it came with the Tenth anniversary pack dlc that had a code inside the box. And that code worked. Which is a bit of a mystery as if that works then why not the rest of the DLC? I’m guessing it’s something licensing related.
 
If Forza Horizon 3 is already in EOL status and being delisted in a few weeks, why would Microsoft take the add-on complete bundle offline?
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/forza-horizon-3-complete-add-ons-collection/9ng3t6pkkrsq

Make more money with all the packs separately I guess..

Having already brought the game and car pass I ended up buying the expansion pass too which had been highly discounted.

Was happy enough with that-until an a hour before delisting and brought the Hoonigan pack. Mainly for the Twerkstallion.

Have played the base game before but never brought the expansions. Hot Wheels is a hoot. A lot of fun.
 
... and I totally forgot about this coming to an end until I popped the disc in last night and realized that I forgot to buy the Porsche pack. :banghead:
 
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