This thread will compile announcements about Forza Horizon 5 as well as livestreams and key dates as we approach the November 2021 game launch, and beyond.
To keep up with every detail and announcement, make sure to follow Forza’s official channels:
Set in Mexico with eleven biomes “including a living desert, a dense jungle, and an active volcano”
November 9, 2021 release (Early Access on Nov. 5th)
HDR, 4K 30 FPS on the Xbox Series X (1080p 30 FPS on Xbox Series S) with an optional 60 FPS performance mode
Ray tracing (in Forzavista)
Campaign to expand the Horizon festival, meet new characters, Horizon Story missions
Multiplayer: Horizon Open combines Races, Drift challenges, Eliminator sessions and more
Horizon Arcade features minigames
Meet up, convoy, and co-op race in Horizon Tour
EventLab customizes races, challenges, stunts, “and new game modes”
Gift Drops allow you to share your customized cars on the map like a Barn Find Blueprint
Give Kudos to other players for positive behavior and use Forza LINC to find similar players
Car Customization: “100 new rims, hundreds of new visual upgrades like body kits, wheels and paint options, and thousands of performance upgrades”
Improved tuning and painting interface
Personalization: “a more diverse cast of selectable characters, customizable hairstyles, the ability to select prosthetic limbs, pronouns, voices, and clothing.”
Forza Horizon 5: Let’s ¡Go! livestream
Jun 14, 2021
Hosted by Charleyy Hodson, this half-hour stream covered:
Forza Horizon 5 Announce Trailer
Mexico!
Art Directing for Forza Horizon 5
New Features: ForzaLink and Horizon Arcade
Community Q&A
Developers:
Mike Brown / Creative Director
Conar Cross / Associate Art Director
Q&A:
Convertibles - will be mapped for controls
Towns
Mexican car culture - “still landing the final car list”, not diving into the list too much until “closer to launch”
Drag racing - several drag race events
Festival sites - more than one; the main site is built on a really old race track and an airstrip
Weather - weather effects are local (tropical storms, sandstorms), different climates in the same season due to elevation
Smashables - you can smash through a cactus
Animals - flamingos, wild dogs, donkeys, goats, parrots…; animals are “smarter this time”
Highways - largest map ever “and it does have a big highway that runs corner to corner”
Customization - over 100 new rims, over 100 visual upgrades, you can paint your brake calipers; character customization includes prosthetic limbs, different voices
On that point - a part of the spirit of Forza Horizon is providing recognisable virtual tourism to people, right? But you also want to avoid falling into stereotypes - which is easy enough to do when you’re portraying the UK, you live here. But when you’re tackling a culture like Mexico’s, how do you get that balance right?
One of the things I’ve always loved about Forza Horizon is the way that it portrays car culture. As a classic car nerd, I’ve always felt pretty well served by your car selections! I also really enjoyed, in 3, the focus on Australian car culture. Are you doing something similar for Mexican car culture in 5?
How does this new Expedition mode factor into the overall structure?
Seasons were such a great hook for Forza Horizon 4, not just for the game, but as a way to structure the content updates over time. Will there be anything similar in 5?
Can we expect weekly challenges and monthly seasons along the same lines as Forza Horizon 4?
As someone who played Forza Horizon 4 from the start and a lot, I loved that structure. It was always a compelling reason to revisit the game after a while and see what had popped up. But I know it could feel overwhelming for someone new to the game or someone who hadn’t played it for a long time to log into and feel like you were being bombarded with updates and events and various meta-goals, and you weren’t sure what was feeding into what. How do you sort that out and streamline it for players, whilst also giving your hardcore enough to get on with every week?
It must be quite tricky setting the pace of those Playlists and of the season updates to make sure the amount of content is right, both from a production standpoint and for the players. Do you feel like you hit a sweet spot with 4? Or do you think they’re still tweaking to be done there?
So one thing I noticed with 4 was that you were given a lot of freedom when you’re moving through the campaign as to what cars you use - the game would, for the most part, adapt itself to you, to what you wanted to drive at that point. And then that more curated experience that would take you around the garage and get you to investigate all the different cars and styles of driving would come through the Playlist more than through the campaign. Is that a structure you’re going to continue with in 5?
And in terms of the online modes, like Online Adventure and Eliminator, is it going to be a familiar suite from 4? I saw Eliminator was in there.
Tell me more about Events Lab - your gameplay mode creator.
Why have you built this mode? What are you hoping to achieve for players with it?
Has developing for Xbox One as well forced any kind of considerations on you, rather than developing purely for the Series consoles and PC?
June 13 - Official FH5 Trailer, gameplay demo video - “We saw glimpses of Forza LINK in action, teased the Event Lab, and got a taste of the Horizon Arcade.”
Forza Horizon 5: Let’s ¡Go! Episode 1 livestream
“In our first episode, we talked about “Why Mexico.” Mike Brown and Associate Art Director Conar Cross dug into the work being done to authentically represent this beautiful country in a way that celebrates its culture, heritage and unique geography, and showcases Guanajuato and the surrounding landscape. We also answered some of your questions, which we’ve shared here:” (see article for full answers)
Can we have convertibles in FH5?
Will FH5 feature a big city?
Will FH5 incorporate elements of Mexico’s car culture?
Is there a drag race?
How does the weather change?
Will there be any animals?
Will there be long highways?
What is new in customization?
Forza Horizon 5: Let’s ¡Go! Episode 2 livestream
“In our second episode, we focused on Mexico’s dynamic skies and weather as Lead Lighting Artist Lukas Koelz, Art Director Don Arceta, and Senior Lighting Artist Adan Currey discussed the tremendous amount of work that’s going into the sky in Forza Horizon 5, and what makes it so special. Plus, more questions!”
What about new engine sounds?
We’ll be covering this in Episode 3 of Let’s ¡Go! Tune in!
Will there be sheep?
Are there different skies for different weather patterns?
Forza Horizon 5: Let’s ¡Go! Episode 3 livestream
"The first stream of the month was all about engine sounds. The community had been hoping to hear more about the process of capturing and creating engine sounds in Forza for a while as we all know the distinctive rumble of an engine can be as unique as a fingerprint. For many people, the sound is as important to the identity of a car as any visual detail or performance customization. That’s why our development team put so much care into the tech and process for capturing hundreds of engine sounds and recreating thousands of upgrade configurations, to provide the most authentic and realistic car sounds possible. "
“We also posted all of the videos featured in the stream as separate YouTube clips so anyone can listen to the raw sound. This includes behind-the-scenes footage of our sound capture process from cars.”
Video: Forza Horizon 5: Car Audio Recording
“Finally, a demonstration of the new engine revving feature in the upgrade menu and how you can hear changes in the engine as you customize:” Video: Forza Horizon 5: Audible Upgrades
“Just like always, to wrap up the stream, our host and guests took questions from the community. You can click on the questions to navigate to that timestamp in the livestream.”
How do you keep the exhaust out of the muffling (when recording engine sounds)?
Why did the method of recording change for engine sounds?
Is the huge bridge seen in the E3 gameplay trailer part of the huge highway mentioned previously?
Will the Eliminator start covering the entire map?
Can we expect to see familiar Forza Horizon characters return?
Are there new engine swaps?
Will there be long highways?
What is new in customization?
Forza Horizon 5: Let’s ¡Go! Episode 4 livestream
“In our fourth stream, which aired on July 26, we looked at some of the eleven biomes that make up the world of Forza Horizon 5. We’ve talked a lot about how geographically diverse Mexico is and how it represents several types of environments, from deserts to swamps to mountains, all in one country. That’s why this stream marked the start of a tour of the different geographic regions of the Mexico in the game.”
What was the biggest graphical challenge?
When do we get to see the map?
Will every car have a V8 and V12 option?
Has Forza LINK replaced the Quick Chat?
Are the seasons going to switch on a weekly basis again like Forza Horizon 4?
Will the map have more off-roading and fewer roads?
Mulegé Town Scramble gameplay at the Horizon Wilds festival
"As we always do when wrapping up the show, our host and guests responded to some questions from the community with the answers delivered by Mike Brown, Creative Director and Conar Cross, Associate Art Director! We also used this opportunity to reveal the full map for Forza Horizon 5 and how it looks in the summer which is Mexico’s wet season. Check it out below. You can even click on any of the questions to find that timestamp in the livestream – how handy! "
FH5 cover cars announcement: Mercedes-AMG ONE and Ford Bronco
Xbox Wireless Controller - Forza Horizon 5 Limited Edition
Initial Drive gameplay
Video: Forza Horizon 5: Let’s ¡Go! Episode 6
"This near one-hour special saw our host Charleyy and Creative Director Mike Brown joined by Forza Horizon 5 Art Director Don Arceta. They all talked about what people saw in the Gamescom livestream then jumped into more all-new content. "
Character personalization
Starter cars: 2020 Chevrolet C8 Corvette Stingray, 2021 Ford Bronco, and 2020 Toyota GR Supra. " No matter which one you drive, you’ll arrive to Mulegé for the first Showcase Event in-style – while the other two are added to your garage."
Showcase gameplay: “Wing and a Prayer” with the 1994 Hoonigan Ford Escort RS Cosworth WRC “Cossie V2
#NewToForza cars: Ford and Porsche
"It wouldn’t be an episode of Let’s ¡Go! if we didn’t take the time to answer your burning questions! Below you can find the recap of those asked as well as the answers provided by both Mike and Don. Like those posted above, they’ve all been timestamped for your convenience. "
“Up next are Forza Horizon 5 questions from the community submitted on social media. We recently asked for your input with #DearForza and you certainly delivered. Let’s have a look at the responses from Playground Games!”
2020 Toyota GR Supra revealed: “One of the really cool things about the Supra is that this will be one of the cars that is given to every player right at the start of the game. And it will come delivered with that Toyota Heritage kit.”^
First 8 minutes of gameplay (“Initial Drive” featuring an air-dropped Ford Bronco Badlands, the 2020 Corvette Stingray C8 sporting an aggressive StreetHunter widebody kit, the Porsche 911 Desert Flyer, and the Mercedes-AMG ONE)
Xbox Wireless Controller - Forza Horizon 5 Limited Edition (including DLC code for the 1932 Ford De Luxe Five-Window Coupe Forza Edition featuring a playful party livery, a cosmetic festive shirt for your character and a victory emote that lets you set off a powder firework to celebrate the Festival.)
Twitch and Forza Monthly | September 2021 - YouTube 07:30 - Series 40 Festival Playlist overview with Tom Butcher 11:30 - community photo montage (VW Golf R with FH5 livery) 14:00 - Forza Horizon 5 livery editor overview with Mike Brown 23:30 - Community Spotlight interview: Rudeism 37:30 - community events with and #GamingForInclusion recap with Alie Tacq 45:30 - community photo montage 47:00 - Chris Esaki talks about the next Forza Motorsport 57:30 - #HHM Hispanic Heritage Month livery contest and www.aka.ms/ForzaCommunity Survey
5:45 Horizon Arcade minigames 9:15 Horizon Tour co-op races 14:30 Horizon Open team racing, drifting, playground games (and solo), Eliminator 30:15 Baja Circuit 34:25 Kudos earned from being nice/helpful to other players 36:10 Gift Drop
LINK 44:50 Community Q&A
Let’s ¡Go! Episode 9 streamed on October 4th: Twitch and Forza Horizon 5: Let’s ¡Go! – Episode 9 - YouTube 05:50 - Stream schedule with Mike Brown, Kelly Boyle, Pav Plaha 08:00 - Character Customization 20:10 - Horizon Stories: V10; Born Fast 35:30 - Festival Playlist 37:30 - Tommy Bargains reveals Mazda and DeLorean (available Summer Series 1) 43:00 - DeLorean gameplay and Community Q&A
FORZA MONTHLY Monday - 9am Pacific time / 5pm BST
Join us for the October Edition of Forza Monthly! We’ll preview the Forza Horizon 4 Series 41 update AND the Forza Horizon 5 Series 1 update, chat with Playground Games about cultural authenticity in Forza Horizon 5, hear from Forza content creator aeqnx in our Community Spotlight, run down the latest community events, and more!
FORZA HORIZON 5: LET’S ¡GO! – Episode 10 Monday - 10am Pacific time / 6pm BST
Playground Games announces the soundtrack for Forza Horizon 5 and more!
