So, I was listening to Horizon Pulse when Amy Simpson, the station’s DJane, talks about the Spring Showcase with the dirt bikes and “how all of us might ride around on bikes soon”.
At first it seemed like a joke, but later on she gave another clue when she said that she “saw a parking lot for motorbikes and that this would seem odd for a car festival” - it should be noted that she talks about this in a rather ironic way, as if she’s trying to give a hint at something.
Also when she finishes about the parking lot-thing she makes a weird transition saying like “without there being any correlation, let’s move on.” This seems quite suspicious, too.
I think that PG might be teasing the first upcoming expansion. Horizon has been around for a while now and other racing franchises such as Driveclub and The Crew have bikes too, so I’d say it’s Forza’s time to shine.
My assumption would be that they might come up with a Isle of Man TT expansion since it’d fit the UK-theme perfectly.
NOTE: Translations are made from the German version, so the quotes may not be 100% accurate.
I think the speculation in this thread is pretty unlikely to come true, but I’d really have nothing against bikes. I’d certainly rather have them than oversized Hot Wheels replica toys.
1] I would like Forza series to remain games about cars.
2] T10/PG are good at making car games - let them progress even further without distractions.
3] bringing bikes in means more resources would be going into that division (most likely at the cost of current working structure) - the quality would suffer.
4] I think one Crew is enough. The game series that doesn’t know even itself, what it tries to be, and therefore doesn’t do anything well.
Another possible hint, when you finish the Spring showcase against the bikes Kira says something like: “The riders all want a go in your car, I assumed you didn’t want a go on their bikes?”.
It seems plausible to me, especially when PGR4 had bikes implemented well and if I’m not mistaken, a lot of the team responsible for that are now in PG.
Dirt bikes exist so the developers have already invested time into physics, character animations and art assets in that direction.
Biker cosmetic items are among selection of character customization options.
The Isle of Mann is already being discussed as the next expansion and it is best know for the Manx TT.
… and now there are suggestions of bikes being at the festival in the audio from the radio DJs.
All in all, I’d say that moves the arrow of the Chance-O-Meter from Unlikely to Possible at the very least.
Bikes will not be in this or any future Forza games unless there is a major change of direction for the franchises in the future. This question has been asked of multiple T10/PG devs and other management personnel in the past and the response has always been ‘motorcycles will not be a part of the Forza games as usable vehicles for the players’.
They were a nice addition in Test Drive Unlimited, and given that you race against some (albeit heavily scripted) AI in a showcase they have clearly put some of the required code into the game to feature them.
I think its definitley plausible, with all the clues flying about. Why give you biker gear for a car game? Also the FMX style looking track neat Astmoor hints towards motorcross style bikes.
As a TT fan an IOM expantion would be great, the full TT circuit as the ‘Goliath’ with the full 37 mile track being a speed zone to try and beat the current average speed lap time.
A few replies have said “Forza MS have already said they won’t add bikes”…but minds can be changed. I for one hope they do…I can’t think of anything better. The Horizon series for me is getting a little tired now, there wasn’t the same buzz about FH4 as there was for FH3. I played the hell out of FH3 online…it was so much fun. But FH4…I think I’ll pass, online is a mess.
Bikes could bring something new and exiting and I certainly hope they do. Theres so much potential…for road and off-road.
Minds probably would’ve had to have been changed well before they said they wouldn’t add bikes, because at that point it’s likely that the expansion plans were already set.
Please got let it not be bikes. I don’t have anything in particular against them, it’s just that I payed 100 dollars for this game. An expansion is worth 15 dollars. I don’t want 15 dollars spent on bikes…