With the 20th Series of Forza Horizon 5 just around the corner, Playground Games has revealed the key components for the update on a special Forza Monthly live stream — which includes a quasi-permanent map change.
The Series will be called “High Performance”, and it’s fair to say that the new items meet that particular brief. That begins with the major map change at the Horizon Stadium close to the center of the map — which will become a dedicated race track.
Seemingly called “Horizon Oval”, the stadium now includes an oval circuit approximately two-thirds of a mile long, with two banked corners and an extensive infield. It will host its own races, rather than being a cosmetic addition, and is set to be a permanent fixture pending any other seasonal changes such as the Christmas ice rink or the Stadium Stunt Park.
In addition, there’s a new “build stub” within the stadium itself which will allow players to construct their own EventLab creations — with or without the oval circuit.
The circuit will also be joined by more than 20 new Evolving World Accolades for performing stunts and completing challenges, only a couple of which we saw on stream.
With a fast new circuit available the update also needs some fast new cars, and it looks like it’s going to deliver on that front with four hot, and new-to-Forza, vehicles.
Of course we already spotted the Lamborghini Huracan STO — a homologation special of the company’s Super Trofeo race car — in the stream preview, but the other three cars have remained a bit of a mystery until now.
Two very special Porsches join the Lamborghini, in the shape of the Mission R and the modern-day 935 homage. That latter car is a 991 GT2 RS under the skin, but reworked on top with a wild body kit in reference to the famous Group 5 935/78 race car — also known as “Moby Dick”.
The Mission R meanwhile is much more forward-looking. It’s an all-electric race car designed to answer the question of what a Porsche one-make race series — like the Supercup — would look like in the future. With two motors producing over 1000hp combined, it’ll look pretty rapid for sure.
Finally there’s a much more practical but still incredibly rapid vehicle from Audi, with the 2021-model RS6 Avant. It says a lot that the four-liter, twin-turbo, V8 wagon is the least powerful car in the update, with “just” 592hp…
The stream also gave a short preview of some of the activities across Series 20, which brings in a new collectible item — the racing helmet pinata — that will form the core of a challenge. Once again, all four new cars will be available for scoring 20 points in each of the four seasons.
In addition to new content, the Series 20 update will bring a number of bug fixes for a variety of issues, which includes the irksome “Let It B” issue in Rally Adventure which is preventing players from completing the DLC and collecting all of the Achievements.
As is tradition, the stream also teased the following Series, which in this case will be called “Explore the Horizon” and is set to bring new exploration Accolades, “overland” modifications to turn trucks and SUVs into offroad monsters, and an update to photomode.
The Series 20 update is set to arrive on Monday April 24, and the Series itself will begin on Thursday April 27.
See more articles on Forza Horizon 5 Game Updates.
