This is a debate that has raged for over fifteen years now and one that will continue to go for a lot longer. When it comes to racing simulators, there are two main challengers to the crown. These are PlayStation's Gran Turismo and Xbox's Forza.
Both have been incredibly popular and have changed the racing sim genre for the better. Which one is the best though? We give our take right here:
Which games are we considering?
We're all extremely hyped for the upcoming releases of Gran Turismo 7, Forza Motorsport, and Horizon 5, but we can't use these to weigh in on this debate. We'll need to use the games that have most recently hit the market. So, we're taking the pros and cons from Gran Turismo Sport and Forza Motorsport 7.
We'd love to include the Horizon series in this debate, but it's so different to anything GT has to offer, that it seems unfair. However, the Horizon games are critical and commercial successes, so we acknowledge how great they are, and that Forza tackles a more casual gaming market so well.
Fan and Critical reviews
A good go-to when it comes to the quality of games is to look up their average review scores on Metacritic. Metacritic aggregates all of the critical reviews together as well as allowing fans to weigh in with their take as well.
We'll start with Forza. On Xbox, Forza Motorsport 7 scores a very high 86% with the critics but is let down by its average fan score of 6.3 (out of ten). On PC, the critical score is a very similar 82% but its fan score is even lower on this system. A 4.8 on PC from the fans doesn't make for good reading.
As for GT Sport, it's only available on PS4, so taking its review scores will be easier. The critics didn't like GT Sport as much as FM7, giving it a 75% score on average. The fan score is similar to FM7 on the Xbox though, with 6.1.
Forza has the edge?
Going purely off the review scores, Forza just about edges it against GT, but it's not that simple. GT Sport's results will be heavily skewed, especially for the critical scores. This is because GT Sport has change remarkably in this time, especially when it comes to the level of content.
Forza 7 will have seen expansions, but not on the level nor to the effect of those seen in GT Sport. If critics reviewed GT Sport today with its current level of cars and tracks, the score would be in the 8 or 9 category like Forza.
Plus, for the future, GT7 now has a release date of March 2022, but Forza Motorsport is still without a launch date. However, we are getting Forza Horizon 5 in November, so technically, Forza is getting there first when it comes to the next-gen consoles.
So, it's a close one, but we'd have to give it to Forza at the moment. Although, the gap is closing, and this next round of titles could allow GT to make the overtake again.