A Forza series community manager has squashed concerns over Forza Horizon 4 potentially being delisted in the coming months. In a Forza forum thread discussing Horizon 4's 'end of life' status, community manager T10ManteoMax (as their forum name goes) had this to say about the future of Playground's fourth Forza Horizon game:
Hey everyone, no need to worry, we’re not planning on delisting Forza Horizon 4 anytime soon!
Past series entries, like Forza Horizon 2 and 3, vanished from digital storefronts roughly four years after launch; two years after their respective successors released. It's looking like this won't be the case for FH4 anyway, as its own 'end of life' period would be due next month, roughly four years after it first arrived on Xbox One.
There's no concrete reason given as to why Forza Horizon 4 is different to any other past entry (or even any delisted Forza Motorsport game for that matter) but it remaining live makes sense. It was the very first Forza title to launch onto Xbox Game Pass (where it currently remains), and it was the first to evolve into a live service too.
Whatever the reason, we're glad to see FH4 remain live and active for the foreseeable future, as its one of the very best games in the Forza series!
Are you glad to see Horizon 4 stick around? Let us know below.
Comments 16
Dear Playground, having taken such a positive step, any chance of the first three Horizon entries and DLC bring relisted? Thanks in advance, hugs and kisses
Awesome.
On another note, anyone else sick of that Alaska Daily ad re-appearing 17 times as they're trying to scroll down the page? Unbearable.
Nice to see the information that we discussed earlier today as an article!
Oh nice. Here's hoping Horizon 1-3 are rescued from the circles of delisted hell in time for the Horizon anniversary soon as well.
Even if they aren't this is still a very good step!
I think the bigger picture is: having 2 Horizons "active". Since (with the exception of Horizon 5) FM and FH feed tech advancements off of and into each other, and the dev focus on the new FM is in high gear (pun intended), Horizon 6 work probably hasn't begun in earnest (they may have the location picked out, but I'd be surprised if it was much further than that). I would still brace for FH4 delist at or near FH6 launch. Personally, I'm hoping they move from doing iterative releases focused on one area to a "Forza Horizon World" title, remaster the locations from the older titles, and every year add a new site... maybe have 6 "active" locations, and have seasonal changes as to which ones are available (for instance have Colorado closed during the winter due to weather, or introduce semi-realistic road wear and have areas closed for maintenance every so often)
If memory serves it was music licences expiring that go those games delisted, its possible with FH4 (or at least 5) was made with that in mind. So they stay on gamepass.
I'm delighted by this decision.
Once you've played FH5 for while, you start to notice its issues.
Now that I'm over level 200 in both FH5 and FH4, I am convinced that FH4 is the superior game with superior design, and for that matter, the superior DLC (I've only played Treasure Island, but that's fantastic, not yet started the Lego DLC. Completed the Hotwheels DLC in FH5 and it left me very cold, looks fantastic, but not much fun.
My wife came to love the series by playing FH5 (the first one she played). She stated no way could FH4 be better, but now she's started it, she wont go back to no 5! We do live in the UK though, so there is the romance of travelling a world that looks so much like where we live, but I'm convinced its designed better with better races.
I'm grateful FH4 remains on Game pass, its one of the very best titles you can play on an Xbox imo.
I get that having to license out games for sell is a difficult situation, but how does that work? And if there’s any chance of relisting previous Forza games, does Microsoft have to get permission from each company individually?
This is good news, as I was just wondering if I should be buying it soon. I managed to pick up FH3 and all its DLC right before it was delighted and I wanted to make sure I did for 4.
I manged to get FH free with Gold (Back when MS cared about Games with Gold) but missed FH2. I was lucky enough to find a physical copy at a thrift store for $5 but sadly I will never experience the DLC.
Hopefully this means they will relist the other ones soon.
@abe_hikura I think it was more of the car licensing then the music.
@Titntin
My thoughts exactly! I played Forza Horizon 5 for a while but found it less engaging than FH4. I prefer the variety of seasons, the fantastic soundtrack (the ost for FH5 is flat in comparison), the UK is just more aesthetically pleasing to me than Mexico. Not to mention incredibly clever and informative Horizon Stories in FH4.
Another issue is fps. I tried to get into FH3, but 30 fps is just too noticeable to just pretend it's not distracting.
@Titntin
Definitely the UK drive FH4 drags me back even though I’m still playing FH5.
They probably reupped all the licenses during the xbox series x versions so that certainly has to help
@Titntin There's no doubt that 4 is better. I prefer everything about it - the map design, the physics/handling, the plethora of animals. The world feels better, more alive, the map has a better flow to it, even the radio stations are better.
I wanted to love 5 as 4 is one of my favourite games, but man I found it pretty underwhelming overall. The spark from 4 is kind of missing.
Interestingly I played 2 and 3 recently and I actually prefer those to 5 too.
@Exerion76 They were already delisted years ago.
Good, because apparently they just recently made this game work on the Steam Deck, so I gotta pick it up on sale on Steam one of these days.
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