Retain vehicle data migration for owned cars from previous games

Suggestions Hub FH6 Features SHUB Car Features
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I really enjoy playing FH4, not because the scenery is great, but more because of a car I love very much—the Lexus RC F. I love driving this car while listening to music and cruising through Edinburgh. Every time I check the Vehicle History and see that accumulated data, I feel happy and a great sense of achievement!

I have a proposal: to implement data migration for the same model of the same year through Xbox accounts. However, I understand the issues regarding modeling and performance parameters after game iterations, so I only want the “paper data” to be migrated, such as mileage, driving time, original owner, etc. Because I don’t feel that my RC F, or the beloved cars of all players, are just a bunch of polygonal models, but “soulmates” into which we have invested our time!

To Microsoft:
If you see my suggestion and have the intention to adopt it, then you can look at what I have to say next. First of all, I don’t feel that this is something you are obligated to do, so you can categorize this service as a paid service. I am willing to pay the price of the game itself (or even more) to purchase this service! I think this will become one of the more valuable cases regarding the inheritance of digital assets in the Metaverse plan. (The current logic of starting from scratch with every generation is actually erasing the emotional assets of core players, turning the Metaverse into isolated digital islands.)

I have thought of possible problems and corresponding solutions:

Regarding balance: My (or our) request is not to migrate an entire car, but the paper data. Therefore, it is just reading and writing a few characters from the server, and it will not affect the balance of the game.

Regarding marketing KPIs: I (or we) am not asking Microsoft to directly gift a car to the account. Migration conditions can be set, for example: requiring migration from a specific version to another, and both versions must own the same car (same year and model) simultaneously.

Regarding the implementation plan: I propose a “one-way data snapshot” mode. That is, after payment, the system only reads specific fields (such as Mileage, Owner) from the old save file and overwrites them onto the model instance in the new version. This does not require real-time cross-generational data synchronization (after migration, the new version will be a new branch, similar to the upgrade from the Legacy Edition to the Enhanced Edition in GTA V). This greatly reduces server maintenance costs and data leak risks.

Welcome discussion!

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Proposed Update: Commercial Value & Implementation Guardrails

"To the Development Team and PMs:

I would like to supplement my proposal with two critical points regarding the commercial feasibility and technical safety of this feature:

  1. High ROI & Strategic Value:
    This service is a low-cost, high-margin opportunity (if implemented as a paid service). It targets ‘long-termist’ players who are currently tethered to older titles (like FH3 or FH4) solely due to their emotional attachment to specific vehicles. By enabling this data bridge, you effectively remove the barrier to entry for new titles. I predict this would not only increase player retention but also drive incremental hardware and software sales, as the ‘digital legacy’ becomes a portable asset across the Xbox ecosystem.

  2. Implementation Guardrail (The ‘Fresh Start’ Condition):
    To ensure data integrity and avoid conflicts with existing progression, I propose a specific requirement: The target vehicle in the new game must be ‘Factory Fresh’ (0.0 mileage/Brand New).
    This means the ‘Data Snapshot’ can only be applied to a newly acquired instance of the same year and model. This allows players to own multiple copies of the same car—one with their ‘Heritage Data’ and others as fresh builds—ensuring the two generations of data never interfere with each other."

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Proposal Supplement: A Real-world Case Study of “Digital Passport” vs. Sync Corruption

Case Overview:
From January 28th to 30th, 2026, I volunteered 40+ hours to assist a player (ID: CoolSpider84517) whose Forza Horizon 5 save data (53.6MB) was corrupted due to digital signature validation failure. This case perfectly illustrates why the current local-sync-dependent architecture is obsolete.

The “Geek” Intervention (The 40-Hour Rescue):

  1. Forensic Analysis: I bypassed standard “Contact Support” scripts and manually analyzed the local cache directory (…\userdata\1853312631…), identifying the exact point of hash failure that the automated system missed.

  2. Navigating the Bureaucratic Loop: When official support provided a standard troubleshooting article (WSReset, UWP Reset, etc.), I recognized these as “procedural checkboxes” rather than actual solutions. I guided the player through these steps only to fulfill the “exclusion protocol” required for manual restoration.

  3. Securing Inventory Restoration: By drafting a technical appeal (Ticket 819766), I forced a manual audit of the player’s assets. Support finally acknowledged that while progression was lost, inventory (cars, credits, wheelspins) could be restored—but only because we provided hard evidence of the corrupted file’s metadata.

The Core Argument for the “Vehicle Passport” System:

If my proposal were implemented, this 40-hour ordeal would have been ZERO hours.

• Account-Centric, Not File-Centric: Assets should be hard-linked to the Xbox Live Identity, much like a digital wallet.

• Eliminating the “Sync Trap”: Currently, if the sync fails, the assets die with the file. Under my “Passport” system, as long as your Xbox account exists, your garage is safe.

Conclusion:
I spent 40 hours of my life on this rescue—not just out of altruism, but to prove that the current system fails the players. Respect for a player’s emotional connection to their cars should be built into the code, not left to the mercy of a fragile local save. We don’t need better sync; we need a permanent digital identity for our assets.