The Main Reason why Horizon 4 is set in the UK

[Silver Arrows]

Precisely. It’s just a mossy rock in comparison to the Mediterranean. I’m surprised they managed to make it habitable in the first place.

/s

It's like Scandanavia, or Manitoba. Why anybody lives there when they could live in Japan, I don't know.

 

[UKMikey]

Precisely. It’s just a mossy rock in comparison to the Mediterranean. I’m surprised they managed to make it habitable in the first place.

/s

We had may have had help from aliens.

 

[Dave A]

I am not sure if this has been posted already, but I reckon it deserves its own thread to create awareness.

Around 4 years ago, an article was posted on CarThrottle about a tax relief system for UK gaming developers. The way it works is that the more British a game is, the more tax game developers would be able to reclaim (see chart below):

When this was announced, development for Horizon 3 in Australia was already underway so it would make sense for the next game to take place in the UK to take advantage of this tax relief. It also explains why there are so many more British cars and could point towards the "Horizon Life" being themed around British culture.

If anyone wants to post this on Reddit to educate the disappointing lot wishing for a game set in Asia, go ahead.

Its interesting (for me at least) to see UK tax come up in a Forza Horizon 4 discussion. You are correct about tax breaks for video game development, this is called Video Game Development Relief (VGDR) and it provides relief on qualifying expenses incurred in the games development. However VGDR would have been available to Playground Games for development of Forza Horizon 4 regardless of the in game location.

 

[SDotJoe]

Why even bother with modeling a location out of a real location? They don't have the creative juices to come up with a fictional map? Save $$$ on scouting and just build a map that doesn't include acres of empty space with some highway action.

 

[PzR Slim]

Why even bother with modeling a location out of a real location? They don't have the creative juices to come up with a fictional map? Save $$$ on scouting and just build a map that doesn't include acres of empty space with some highway action.

 

[Silver Arrows]

He raises somewhat of a good point, in that I'd love to see a mishmash of different environments in one location in a Horizon game. Think Seacrest County in Hot Pursuit 2010. Where one could go from the snow capped mountains to the desert.