It's been a long, long time since Forza Motorsport was announced and since then details have been few and far between.
While Xbox players have Forza Horizon 5 coming up fast, the more sim-focused racers have been starved of news around the more realistic side of the Forza franchise.
A recent Forza Monthly stream gave us some news to sink our teeth into about Forza Motorsport!
Encouraging improvement
After a few playtests and plenty of feedback from other Forza titles, it looks like the team at Turn 10 is taking Forza Motorsport's multiplayer in a new direction. One which is very welcome.
Speaking on the stream, creative director Chris Esaki acknowledged that previous Forza titles were all about quick races, jumping from one race to the next, and never really about getting drawn into the longer arc of an endurance race.
Players have always wanted choice though, the ability to do 3-hour plus races and not get forced into 5-lappers. Turn 10 is now taking on that desire and seems to be building a multiplayer experience to suit everyone.
With practice, qualifying, and a feature race being crafted into "live events", Forza encourages player skill to grow and improve.
Tools to help you
Along with more laps out on track, there will be tools to help drivers better understand their own areas for improvement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHd-M0sQyxk
The corner mastery system will help drivers understand where they are fast and where they are slow on a corner by corner basis. It will also identify certain types of corners, like double-apexers, long-radius, or hairpins, where improvements can be made.
Endurance double-down
Forza Motorsport is also going big on endurance racing. With open practices that run for hours, allowing players to jump in when they are able rather than having to block off time they are opening up the world to more drivers.
The revamped tyre model, which updates 360 times per second, will also be crucial here. Letting players feel a more incremental loss of grip rather than a sudden cliff will reward those that look after their rubber. Added focus from the team on fuel consumption also plays into a game that will look to promote longer races.
What about a release date?
Unfortunately, there is still no release date for this game. The lack of announcement is likely a conscious choice to not step on the toes of Horizon 5 which arrives in November.
With developers liking a long run-up to release these days, don't expect the game to arrive any time before September 2022, at the earliest.