Just as the sun “rises” over one horizon and “sets” on the other, Microsoft will let the original Forza Horizon fall into darkness shortly after debuting the series’ latest entry.
Announced by Turn 10 Studios’ Community Manager Brian Ekberg in the Sept. 23 edition of the “Forza Motorsport Week in Review,” Forza Horizon will reach “End of Life” on Oct. 20, 2016. Those who already own the open-world racing title (either by physical copy or digital download) will retain the ability to play the game and any purchased downloadable content.
However, gamers who have not bought a digital copy of Forza Horizon by Oct. 20, or any of its respective downloadable content, will no longer have the ability to do so from within the Microsoft Store on Xbox 360 or Xbox One. The fallback: used retail copies.
This news arrives just after Forza Horizon was available for free to all Xbox Live Gold subscribers in September, making it the only Xbox One backward-compatible Forza title.
The 2012 launch of Forza Horizon marked the beginning of the spin-off series, developed by independent British studio Playground Games, in partnership with Microsoft Studios.
The title’s mix of Forza Motorsport-esque handling, freedom of the open road, and exciting festival atmosphere generated wide acclaim. GameSpot named Forza Horizon its ‘Best Racing Game of 2012’ and aggregate reviews collected by Metacritic have given Forza Horizon’s inaugural release a favorable rating of 85 out of 100.
Forza Horizon 3 on the other hand is now available on PC and Xbox One for Ultimate Edition owners, while physical copies and regular digital editions will become available tomorrow, September 27.
See more articles on Forza Horizon.
Of course it’s a sad thing when any game is deserted, I think the makers should release all unicorns/online unlockables etc. as DLC when they do this as a matter of course, so people can have the complete game still… Take notice Motorstorm and Midnight Club LA for example!!
As I still drive round on FM1 and GT1 etc. now and then I think we should at least think ourselves lucky we still have a disc that will play….what happens when The Crew and Need for Speed decide they are finished with!!?
In fact after just getting the EXCELLENT Rossi the Game, I did a MotoGP marathon and went through ALL 17 of my MotoGP games in order.
So you pop in Forza Horizon 1 disc and it shames you ?
What was the point of bringing this game on xbox one if it’s going online?
I presume you mean offline, but it’s not quite what you think. It just means you will not be able to purchase the game or buy DLC from this date. The game will function (online services included) as it does today until further notice.
So if I buy this game before Oct. 20 I’ll be able to download it afterwards? I was waiting to check the Black Friday XBOne S deals :S
Yes
Sony needs to pay full attention to the “backwards compatible” thing. They’re too wrapped up in new stuff that they completely miss the fact that it could be a HUGE selling point to go fully backwards compatible.
Goodnight, sweet prince.
The only good Forza is H3
Well RIP FH
So they give it to you free, make it backwards compatible and take it all away in less than three months. Interesting.
I was thinking that too, but you’ll still be able to play it after the fact anyways.
Not really taking anything away, just ceasing sales. What the Forza Rewind and this rewrite omit is how server support will be affected, far more critical to the game’s life.
@KiroKai, should we get word from Turn 10 Studios regarding any changes to the title’s online services, we will update the article. However, it is worth noting that servers are currently operating for all Forza titles, going as far back as Forza Motorsport 2 (released in 2007).
Multiplayer might still function in FM2, but they disabled the auction house years ago.