Vehicle licensing issues continue to be a source of contention for racing game fans. Video games effectively give vehicle manufacturers free advertising, but this doesn’t mean you'll see your favourite cars in every racing game.
EA arguably started this trend when it held exclusive rights to Porsche, preventing the German manufacturer from appearing in other racing games for over a decade.
More recently, iconic Italian car brands like Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Lancia have been conspicuously absent in modern racing games like Forza, Gran Turismo, and Need for Speed. Lancia’s legendary rally cars not appearing in Forza Horizon 5’s Rally Adventure was particularly glaring.
Since 2021, these brands are owned by Stellantis. Thankfully, after a long hiatus, the Italian automaker is seemingly ready to return to video games.
Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Fiat, and Abarth coming to Forza Horizon 5
At the end of June’s Forza Monthly stream, Playground Games made a surprise announcement that Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Fiat, and Abarth are returning in Forza Horizon 5. The iconic Italian car brands will appear in Forza Horizon 5’s upcoming Italian Automotive series starting on 17 August.
All four Italian brands were in Forza Horizon 4 but missing in Forza Horizon 5 at launch. This has left a huge void in the car list and fans have been requesting their return ever since.
It’s not clear how many cars from each manufacturer are coming to Forza Horizon 5. For reference, there are 11 Alfa Romeo, five Lancia, four Abarth, and three Lancia cars in Forza Horizon 4.
We expect Playground Games will initially add a small selection from each brand, with more Stellantis cars appearing in future festival playlists.
Is Stellantis returning to racing games?
With Stellantis returning to Forza Horizon 5, we may see the Italian automaker appear in other racing games once again. It’s not clear why Stellantis has been absent in racing games for so long.
GT7 bucked this trend when the glorious Alfa Romeo Giulia GTAm arrived in an update. But as GTPlanet points out, this model came out before the Stellantis merger.
However, Eagle-eyed viewers will have noticed Alfa Romeo and Fiat cars appearing in last week's Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown gameplay reveal as traffic cars roaming around Hong Kong Island. This means Stellantis won’t feature exclusively in Forza games going forward.
Welcome back to the world of racing games, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, and Abarth.