Published , by Chris Jarrard
Published , by Chris Jarrard
Among the rapid-fire announcements and game debuts during Microsoft’s Xbox E3 2019 press event, it might have been easy to miss some absences from the usual lineup we get each year at E3. One such game that was missing in action was the newest edition of Turn 10 Studios’ Forza Motorsport. Following its last release in 2017 with Forza Motorsport 7, fans and press were expecting to see some news or announcement of the newest entry in the series during the show, but it seems that there will be no new Forza game in 2019 — aside from the re-skinned Forza Street, anyway.
Going all the way back to 2011 with the release of Forza Motorsport 4, neither Turn 10 Studios or partner Playground games have released a mainline Forza title during the holiday season each year. Turn 10 delivered Forza Motorsport 5 in 2013 as the first game in the series to appear on the Xbox One console, then followed it up with Forza Motorsport 6 in 2015, released the series debut on PC with Forza: Apex in 2016, and finally put out Forza Motorsport 7 for both console and PC in 2017.
Playground Studios developed each entry in the popular Forza Horizon series, a more casual racing experience built on the Forza engine. The first Horizon game launched in 2012 and was followed by Forza Horizon 2 in 2014, marking the series debut on Xbox One. Forza Horizon 3 arrived in 2016, becoming the first entry in the spinoff series to release for PC. Last year, Playground released Forza Horizon 4 to critical and commercial success.
The only mention of the Forza series during the Xbox E3 2019 Briefing was to announce the new DLC expansion for Forza Horizon 4, titled LEGO Speed Champions. The DLC expansion marries the worlds of Forza Horizon and LEGO in a colorful mashup.
With Forza Motorsport 8 having a rather conspicuous absence at E3 2019, it is pretty likely that Turn 10 Studios are hard at work preparing the next generation of Forza for Microsoft’s upcoming console. With Microsoft confirming a holiday 2020 release for Project Scarlett, it makes a lot of sense to expect the beloved racing franchise to pop up around the same time.
The series will likely be receiving a graphical overhaul to take advantage of the additional horsepower provided by the new console. Forza Motorsport 7 was a showcase for the Xbox One X console, offering native 4K60fps gameplay for the first time on a console, as well as HDR support. If Forza Motorsport 8 is a Scarlett title, it could make use ot the 120hz refresh rate support that Microsoft confirmed during its Scarlett promo video during the Xbox E3 2019 Briefing. We may have to wait until E3 2020 to get a confirmation of what Turn 10 Studios is up to with the new Forza.