Overview of What you can win, and How
What can we collect (or win) in game?
Other than stats and Xbox Live Achievements, we know that gameplay involves accruing, owning, or unlocking:
- Credits (CR)
- Cars
- Car Horns
- Clothing for your driver character
- Emotes (character movements)
- Houses
- Influence (XP) and progress toward Horizon Superstar status
- Wheelspins and Super Wheelspins
- Forzathon Points
- Skill Points and Perks
Some menus and features may be locked until the player progresses through the game. If so, this list will be updated with the sequence and requirements.
Credits (CR)
Credits are earned from Racing, Auctioning cars, your Storefront, Wheelspins, Forzathon, Jobs, Forza Rewards, Official Contests, and any other methods TBA. Bonus factors: You’ll get more CR from racing harder Difficulty drivers and turning off Assists, and VIP DLC provides 2x race rewards, Forzathon Live offers increased rewards for Forzathon Live challenges completed with other players, and players with higher status due to shared content usage can set higher Auction House prices.
Influence (XP)
In FH4 you earn Influence toward becoming the Horizon Superstar instead of “XP.” FH4 does not have an “XP championship between online events” as in FH3.^ Each race pays out CR and Influence based on finish position, Skills, and Clean Racing. Game progress can now be earned through methods other than racing, such as photography, tuning, painting, streaming, and watching or streaming FH4 on Mixer.^ (Mixer influence is no longer available to to Mixer being closed down.) Bonus factors: Perks provide bonus Influence from Skills and in racing events.
Forzathon Points:
“Completing #Forzathon challenges in FH4 will earn you Forzathon Points to spend on rotating rewards in the new Forzathon Shop: Cars, vanity items, emotes, horns, etc.”^ Bonus factors: Completing multiple Daily Forzathon Challenges and the Weekly stages within the same week will provide bonus points, but there is a limit on the maximum that can be earned in a week.
Wheelspins
Wheelspins are awarded when you level up, and can be purchased as an instant perk in a Car Mastery tree and Forzathon Shop. Bonus factors: VIP DLC ownership provides “weekly bonus Super Wheelspins.” A wheelspin is a random chance to win CR (various amounts), Cars, Car Horns, Clothing, and Emotes. A Wheelspin wins one prize while a Super Wheelspin wins three.
Skill Points and Perks
Skills are activated during driving and earn Skill Points to use for unlocking Perks. Perks are bonus factors or benefits, either instant or permanent, such as extra Influence or Skill score, Wheelspins etc. Each car has a Car Mastery tree of Perks, and owned houses come with perks.^ Skill Songs return to FH4.
Cars
Included cars are typically available to buy direct from the game, or from other players via the Auction House, with credits. Cars can also be collected through Wheelspins and the Forzathon Shop, and possibly as gifts/rewards from contests. Status types:
- DLC: VIP DLC provides 3 Exclusive Forza Edition cars. Some retailers are offering DLC pre-order bonus cars which are tuned versions of the same base model available to everyone. In previous games there were some promotional opportunities limited by time and residency which offered custom livery DLC versions of the same model available to everyone. Whether the Day One Car Pack and Formula Drift DLC cars will be available to buy from the Store after the pre-order period is unknown, but other DLC car packs are typically available to buy separately without the need for Deluxe or Ultimate Edition ownership; the Car Pass does not cover all purchasable DLC cars. Xbox Live Gold is not required by PC players and not required to receive gifts, but internet is required.^
- Exclusive Access models: Barn Finds are not available from the Autoshow, and some are only available by season or from buying the Castles. Forza Edition and some exclusive cars are available from Wheelspins, and from seasonal Forzathon Shop and Festival Playlist events. Other exclusives have been added to Horizon Life progress levels and
Car Horns and Quickchat phrases:
Horns and phrases can be activated while driving. Horns and quickchat phrases can be won in in Wheelspins, purchased from the Forzathon Shop, and earned from Horizon Life progress levels, Festival Playlist events, and Online Adventure Ranked rewards. Exclusivity: VIP DLC provides an exclusive Car Horn and the Clock Tower Horn is a Loyalty Reward for Tiers 7 and above. Some seasonal Quickchat phrases only show up once a year in the Festival Playlist or Forzathon Shop.
Clothing
“Forza Horizon 4 will ship with around 500 apparel choices designed to work across both genders.”^ Exclusivity: VIP DLC provides “VIP Vanity items…” Some retailers are offering a DLC T-shirt as a pre-order bonus. Loyalty Rewards offers shirts themed by FM7/FH3/FM6/FH2/FM5/FH which are one time gifts only depending on your Forza Rewards Tier, and may not be available by any other method.
Emotes
“They’ll also be able to express 50 emotes that will be seen at key moments, like after races.”^ Exclusivity: VIP DLC provides an exclusive VIP emote. Emotes are one of the items listed in the description of the Forzathon Shop.
Houses
You start with one free property and then buy others with with credits. Houses serve the same function as Festival sites: accessing your cars and Auction House, painting, tuning, Fast Travel points etc. You can own multiple houses at the same time, ranging from small cottage to Edinburgh Castle, each with its own outdoor Forzavista feature. Property ownership comes Perks, but whether these are only available from specific property ownership is unknown. Exclusivity: “There are no “exclusive” properties in Horizon 4. If you have enough credits to own it, you can.”^
What are the ways we can win prizes, rewards, bonuses, and exclusives?
ON-SITE EVENTS
Attendees at E3 2018 were able to earn a real FH4 t-shirt from playing the floor demo. FM7 held a time trial competition at the Goodwood Festival of Speed where the fastest drivers won a game copy and an Xbox One S console, and first-come fans at a Seattle Sounders game collected a branded key cover.
EXTERNAL CONTESTS AND SWEEPSTAKES
Previous Forza games have had promotional tie-ins with companies like Tostitos, Pizza Hut, and Doritos where the purchase of a retail package provided entry for sweepstakes. Prizes have included game copies, DLC, and hardware prizes such as custom-skin consoles. Car company partnerships have had time trial and livery design contests through in-game events to win cash, a real car, or travel to experiences. Other sweepstakes have simply required a retweet or photo share, such as Major Nelson’s #freecodefriday contest and other @Xbox offers. Contests and sweepstakes that offer prizes outside the game are often restricted by country residency, which isn’t something the developers control. Some prizes may be limited in quantity and awarded randomly, some are automatic for participation, and some have required winning an auction against other entrants with accumulated points from retail purchases.
LIVESTREAM GIFTS
Over the years, official livestreams have occasionally given away Forza apparel, posters, and DLC to viewers on the @Forzamotorsport Mixer channel. There are regular weekly streams and special event streams; see the News/Calendar thread for details.
PARTNER OFFERS: PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM MEMBERSHIP
Forza is a partner with the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles and has held game launch parties there. The Museum’s membership benefits include “Forza Motorsport Benefits: New Members receive 500,000 in-game credits delivered through Microsoft’s in-game messaging system. All members receive invitations to exclusive Forza related events with Microsoft developers, artists and more!”^ (These credits may only be for the Forza Motorsport series, but Forza-related events could include Horizon; be sure to inquire.)
PRE-ORDER BENEFITS / PROMOTIONAL DLC CODES
Digital pre-orders of any FH4 Edition will include the Formula Drift Car Pack for FM7 for free. Digital pre-orders of the FH4 Ultimate Edition include the Day One Car Pack, which may or may not be available as an add-on from the Store after launch. Ultimate Edition owners also get Early Access to the game starting September 28; this benefit is not available from subscribing to Xbox Game Pass. There does not appear to be any purchasing discount for previous game VIPs/UE owners. FH4 game retailers such as GameSpot and Amazon are offering pre-order bonus DLC cars which are tuned versions of the same car available to all players. Additionally, some future sweepstakes prizes may be branded DLC items such as liveried cars and character gear with a company logo.
STORE DLC BENEFITS
These DLC items are available to purchase from the Store (discounted for Xbox Game Pass subscribers). A benefit of car DLC ownership includes collecting the car immediately without using CR. Owning the VIP Membership DLC provides “3 Exclusive Forza Edition cars, VIP Crown Flair, VIP Vanity Items, a VIP Emote and Car Horn, a free player house, 2x Credit race rewards, weekly bonus Super Wheelspins, and more. VIP Membership can be purchased separately, or is included with Forza Horizon 4 Ultimate Edition.” Note there is no specific mention of ongoing VIP gifts as some Forza games had years ago. In previous games, VIP ownership has also provided access to exclusive in-game Rivals events. In addition to regular DLC cars, there are two planned DLC Expansions that “will introduce a new world location, vehicles, and gameplay.”^ Expansions also typically come with extra XBL Achievement gamerscore.
There have been no announcements about any Tokens, Treasure Map, or other purchasable DLC add-ons.
MICROSOFT REWARDS
Users can accumulate Microsoft Reward points from using the Bing browser. Points can be used to buy Xbox related peripherals and subscriptions like Xbox Game Pass, and to buy entry into sweepstakes. Past sweepstakes prizes have included game copies, consoles, branded seats and wheels, and travel experiences.
FORZA REWARDS
Forza Rewards points are earned from your previous Forza game titles gameplay. Points determine your Tier which determine your reward level. Forza Rewards offer a maximum of credits 500,000 credits for each weekly redemption period, while Loyalty Rewards (above) are one-time gifts determined by your Tier at the time you first play FH4.
GAMEPLAY
As listed above, you earn Skill Points from driving for unlocking Car Mastery perks, Forzathon Points from specific challenges to use to buy items in the Forzathon Shop weekly selection, credits and Influence from racing, Wheelspins from leveling up, Perks from owning properties, CR and from the Auction House and Storefront, Barn Finds, and Cars/Horns/Clothing/Emotes from Wheelspins.
AUCTION HOUSE AND STOREFRONT
Players can sell cars for more CR than their base price if the community bids high, especially by including custom tuning and designs on the car. Creators with higher status from community usage of their shared files enjoy higher AH listing limits. Unlocked Car Mastery perks stick with the car being sold in the AH. The AH can also be an opportunity to save some credits and get a great deal on valuable cars. The Storefront is your hub of shared content (tuning, liveries, and Routes), which typically earns CR for community usage in previous Horizon games.
RIVALS CHALLENGES AND GIFTS
FM7 players have received gifts of holiday-themed character gear as well as custom livery gift cars, which may or may not be the case for FH4. While some rewards from game events may be automatic, Rivals-related rewards may be distributed at the end of the event through the in game Message Center. Xbox XBL Gold is not required to collect gifts in FH4.
PHOTO/LIVERY CONTESTS
Weekly contests are held on the forums in the Community Events section. These have you use Photo Mode or the Livery Editor to share content in game, then post to the official thread. Selected winners have their content featured in the game (which can help boost CR income from community downloads, and enhanced status in the Auction House) and in the Forza Gallery section of the Forza Hub, and sometimes in official articles like the Week in Review. In-game rewards are typically credits, but FM7 also offered the choice of an exclusive prize car.
BRANDED MERCHANDISE FOR ORDER
Playseat offers Forza-branded gaming chairs. Fanatec offers a Forza Motorsport branded wheel controller. SCUF produced a limited-quantity Porsche-themed Elite controller. Players can also order their own custom controller from Xbox Design Labs. Xbox sold a limited-quantity FM6-themed console and controller, but plans for FH4-themed devices are unknown. Officially Forza branded t-shirts, hoodies, and hats are available to purchase from https://globalgamesgear.com/apparel and http://gear.xbox.com
