It looks like the 4.0 Update has allowed some users to develop and publish liveries for all non-Gamepass cars that are sometimes weeks away from being available in-game. I’m on an Xbox Series X, and I did some basic tests to see if there was simply an oversight with the game’s legit systems for painting a car you don’t own or if you could already import a design from FH5 (such as the Delta Integrale and Alfa Romeo Giulia) and could find no obvious means to achieve such early access or publishing.
Given the varied levels of ownership (crowns, no-crowns) among the listed publishers, I don’t believe these listings reflect a sanctioned control group at Turn10 or Microsoft. If you search for the upcoming TA Cadillac, you’ll see only a Turn10 account listed, which is what you would expect for a test. Also, my experience is that new cars have a global release time independent of console/PC settings.
Anyone using the custom search in FM to specify these upcoming models should be able to replicate these results.
I believe this issue goes back to the Lancia Delta Integrale. For that release, I had a full design done in FH5 and had already copied all sides (as vinyl groups) into FM as a backup if I couldn’t import the car directly (which was the case). In the minimal time it took me to paste those sides, do a slight rescaling, and do a quick track test, a user had already launched 10 intricate designs. This would have been a practical impossibility in those 20 minutes post-launch, which surely means most, if not all, were present pre-launch. Sure enough, that user has cars in many of the lists below.
Giving livery designers an advance period to do a good job ahead of a car launch would be great, but that opportunity needs to be available to everybody to ensure a level field.
Fiat Abarth 124 Spider (Launches in 4-ish hours)
Has 17 designs dating back to January 16, 2024
Alfa Romeo Giulia (Launches February 1)
Has 26 designs dating back to January 16, 2024
Ferrari 430 Scudaria (Launches February 8)
Has 6 designs dating back to January 16, 2024
Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 (February 8 launch)
Has 12 designs dating back to January 16, 2024