Xbox's Phil Spencer Knows How Annoying The Forza Horizon 4 Situation Is

Never got my key for buying the Lego dlc so the game can die for all I care!

Yet there's tons of far older games loaded with cars that don't get delisted. How bout the licence the cars for the life of the game instead of just a few years.

@Ricky-Spanish Same i bought all the dlc and never got a code for the game.

@Rangers420 @Ricky-Spanish I bought the upgrade for Gamepass before the game come out, I haven't got a key yet either. I know some who got their keys though.

Maybe we're right at the bottom of the list for "reasons"

@Arkz operative word being "older". Likely negotiated before car companies cottoned on to how much more money is on the table once gaming became more mainstream.

For instance Ferrari are known to be fiercely protective of their brand in games. They are on record saying they will never again grant in perpetuity licences.

So game devs / publishers have to continually renew if they wish to keep them or face removing the Ferrari brand entirely or delisting the game (I assume this is done when renewal cost outstrip sales / profit. From a business perspective that makes sense especially with a franchise like forza that has multiple games.)

Why not negotiate a rolling contract with the associated parties at the outset? Eg, an initial licence fee for 6-8 years followed by a reducing annual royalty which can be terminated (subject to an agreed notice period).

Thankfully I got my free download code. If I remember correctly I think you had to be a fully paid-up Gamepass subscriber at the date they announced the free download (plus having previously paid for in game content). I think they said that if the Gamepass subscription was discounted then you wouldn’t qualify for a code. Perhaps that could be the reason some people haven’t received a code?

@RiverGenie There's a bunch of racing games from the last 10 years that haven't been delisted either. But I have noticed a few times certain brands being missing, so maybe that's why.

@Arkz From a consumer perspective its a lose lose situation whatever happens but sadly this is what we have so have to make the best of it.

I much prefer Horizon 4 over 5.
Luckily mine came packaged with my xbox one s.
It was the first game I played on it and I was blown away. It's even better looking on the series consoles.
My advice, get it while you can.

@RiverGenie That's why all digital machines piss me off more. Xbox is pushing this, and if you didn't get the game before it's delisted then screw you ey? No thanks. If a console doesn't have some method of using physical media I ain't interested. Cause of crap like this, and when some digital copies remain stubbornly high priced yet the physical copy is dirt cheap.

I bet the Xbox handheld will be digital only, no cart slot like the Switch.

Already got it on PC/Xbox thanks to the Play Anywhere scheme. My favourite Horizon game.

Would people rather have real cars and an end date on when they sell the game or made up cars that are loosely based on real cars?

I lean towards real cars. We are given a solid window to purchase the game. It's been well into the sequels life when delisted each time.

The contracts should be that they get licence to use X branded car in the game with no expiry date.
When it comes to the next game they have to acquire the licence again.
Each time the brand gets a ton of money, and we get to keep the games intact.
If they gave the licence holder a % of the game's annual profits, they could keep the games on sale.
Delisting games strikes me as being dumb as they're gonna make no more money off games people would otherwise still be interested in buying, instead driving people towards the pre-owned market which nets them nothing.
At the very least DLC should remain available even if the base game isn't. That way, they can still make money from those who buy preowned when they purchase said DLC.

We don't get this issue in films. Once the licence is granted that's it. It doesn't expire over time so said film ends up having to be taken down.
It's time the gaming industry pushed for the same kind of deal!!

@Feffster because the other team have to agree. You can start with whatever negotiation you want, but it won't matter if the other party isn't interested.

At least they're not pulling an Ubisoft and making the game unplayable for everyone who owns it. Heck, I still play the original FH from time to time!

Could i get a refund for this. I baught the big version at launch?

I just bought the Ultimate edition (I really wanted the Lego cars pack lol) for only $13 bucks on one of the CD key sites (Eneba I think?) but yea I knew waiting till the last minute was a good idea…and I was told procrastination never pays off 😏

@Nic-Noc20th-C I agree, I think Forza Horizon 4 is better in every way - the handling, the map, the music, the events, everything.

I own the physical disk so I'll always be able to play it

Modes, real cars, fake cars, as long as the effort is made that's all I care for.

Wreckfest has fake cars, doesn't mean the content isn't fair but still lacking to me. Same with any games with cars.

Indies like Inertial Drift it isn't just because it's drifting, but the modes, the attention to detail.

I buy annual racing games of old for the content/progression, challenges, not the teams. But how they use the cars/bikes.

I don't care whether teams, brands, whatever are in it or not.

It's like having a platformer with a human or animal or a vehicular combat game. The act of their abilities/modes/level design is more exciting to me then the character, their branding, their dialogue/personality when the personality of how they play is more important to me then what they say/how they look.

I can play as anything and if it's fun to play I'll play it. Sure themes/other things have substance but when gameplay has it's own substance not accounted for well I prefer it gets the attention it deserves not be a 'means to get to the other things'.

I don't like candy car/dream car offered rewards in games. I prefer to earn them. The supercars to me aren't fun to drive and just some wish fulfillment. Wow they look nice, are fast/eh to drive and other times just wow their reptuation/branding. I couldn't care less.

I don't care about their social/luxury status. Got better things to care about.

They are a nice bonus but not a selling point to me. Its' why the brands/graphics and less content has made me care less for racing games, they cost too much, the use of them in game design got worse due to the licenses or other prioritizes.

Museum titles were fair back in the day, not always as polished but even if advergaming they were solid for the brand and 'using the cars' in challenges or whatever. So I didn't mind those if done well in the challenges, progression, etc.

Delisting is what it is though of licenses, physical helps and I guess if Xbox network settings off to prevent downloads if can like PS4/Switch ignore updates.

I don't mind 1.0 versions sometimes so physical for sure.

Never played Horizon games besides 1st and even Burnout Paradise as awkward as it was was more fun. Tried a bit of 3, still wasn't into it. But like Sunset Overdrive, Infamous Second Son or Gravity Rush it's the side missions/how the characters interacts with the world gameplay wise of movesets, what you do in the missions, level design.

I'm not a big racing fan. Kart racers are typically the beginning and end of where my vehicular interests lie. Would FH4 appeal to me in any way? I'm just weighing the options since I won't have another chance soon.

@Elbow Garfield kart is better

Anyone knows how long online stuff will work? Before servers shutdown.

It does suck that as we move away from physical releases you won't be able to buy these games any more when licenses run out.

I'm in the same boat where it comes to not getting a code for FH4, but it says they're not going to finish handing them out until 2026. So you could, in theory, get the code, and then only have a very short window of time to redeem it. How do they even send out the codes? e-mail, message on the console?

Good long term thinking there.

@DonkeyKongBigBoy

lol. I unironically enjoy Garfield Kart.