Forza Horizon

Forza Horizon and Forza Motorsport could be set for a shock switch to PlayStation, as rumors swirl around Microsoft’s intentions to develop its previously Xbox-exclusive titles for other consoles.

Today marks exactly a decade since the very first game in the Forza Horizon series became available for the first time, for players in North America and Australia.

Is Microsoft about to acquire Playground Games? Mere hours out from the company’s pre-E3 presentation, almost all signs point to yes.

Well uh, that’s unexpected. The Horizon franchise is in the news today, but it’s not 2016’s FH3 or the rumored sequel coming this year. No, it’s the original Xbox 360 game, with a big 4K update.

This week’s Deals With Gold offers on the Xbox Store focus heavily on our genre of choice. With Forza Horizon 3 garnering the lion’s share of attention for the franchise right now, Microsoft is offering substantial deals on most of the older Forza games and DLC in the lineup, while 2015’s Need For Speed is also available for a fraction of its original price.

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.

The countdown is officially underway until the next entry in the open-world series releases later this month. Before racers can blitz around the land down under enjoying features new to the franchise, there’s an interesting detour along the way: the original Forza Horizon is now available to everyone with an active XBL Gold subscription courtesy of this month’s Games With Gold.

Racing game fans on the Xbox One (and 360) can look forward to another free title next month. As part of the Games With Gold program, the original Forza Horizon will be free to all players with an active XBL Gold subscription.