June 25th 2024.
Forza Horizon 4 - Your Last Chance to Purchase
It's with a heavy heart that we must announce that Forza Horizon 4 will soon be delisted, joining the ranks of other beloved Forza games. In August, the popular playlist feature will come to an end, followed by the entire game being removed from digital stores on December 15th.
This outcome was somewhat expected, as it's been the fate of all Forza games before it. Unfortunately, Forza Horizon 4 is on track to become a former video game, as the licenses for in-game cars and music are expiring and Xbox has no plans to renew them. While players who already own the game digitally will still be able to play and re-download it, new players will no longer have the opportunity to purchase it.
This issue is a common one for driving games, and it also means that the Festival Playlist will no longer receive updates with new content after the final season ends on August 22nd. However, players can still enjoy the rest of the game, including daily and weekly challenges, even after official support ends.
Released in 2018 and set in the UK, Forza Horizon 4 shares the same fate as the other Forza Motorsport games, except for the most recent one, as well as Forza Horizon 1 through 3. Even Sony's modern Gran Turismo games have faced similar challenges, with GT Sport and Gran Turismo 6 being the most recent victims due to their use of licensed cars and music.
The official Forza website has confirmed this news, but it's not just racing games that are affected by this issue. Earlier this year, the highly acclaimed Spec Ops: The Line was delisted from online stores due to unspecified issues with "partnership licenses." Several superhero games have also been removed for similar reasons, including Activision's Spider-Man and X-Men titles, as well as their Xbox 360-era Transformers games.
While publishers can potentially reacquire licenses and make the games available for sale again, this is not often the case for racing games, as their successors often make them obsolete. It's a real shame when it comes to Forza Horizon, as each game is set in a specific country and the chances of revisiting those locations are slim.
Forza Horizon 5 is set in Mexico, but there has been no word of a sixth entry yet, possibly due to developer Playground Games currently working on the highly anticipated reboot of Fable. As one of Microsoft's most popular series, surpassing the more serious Forza Motorsport, it's almost certain that there will be another installment at some point, although it's unclear if a new developer will take over.
So let's bid farewell to Forza Horizon 4 and the UK, as we look forward to what's to come in the future. Don't forget to email us, leave a comment, follow us on Twitter, and sign up for our newsletter. And for our Inbox letters and Reader's Features, you can now easily submit them through our Submit Stuff page. Don't miss out on exclusive gaming content and early access to the latest releases by signing up for our newsletter. Your privacy is important to us, and we are protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
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