It turns out Forza Motorsport isn’t the only new Forza game out this year. After Forza Street shut down last year, a new free-to-play Forza mobile game has silently soft-launched.
Back in June, mobile racing game publisher Hutch Games announced it was collaborating with Turn 10 Studios, the developer behind the upcoming Forza Motorsport, on a new Forza mobile game. We now know that the game called is Forza Customs – and it’s not what you’re expecting.
Candy Crush with cars
Available on iOS and Android, Forza Customs has soft-launched in select regions including Australia ahead of a wider release. When the project was announced, Hutch Games described it as a “celebration of car customisation and automotive culture.”
Customisation is the focus, with players designing, building and restoring iconic cars. The mobile game sees you enter Forza Customs, a competition to find the best car builder.
You start off with a 2018 Ford Mustang GT, with other cars including the GMC Jimmy, Volkswagen Type 2 De Luxe, and Porsche Taycan Turbo S. Once you get a car, you start converting it to a required spec such as drift, drag, or hot rod chosen randomly by a wheelspin.
Players can modify cars with a variety of components, paint finishes, wraps and accessories. The car customisation looks surprisingly extensive, with options to add body kits and change headlights, steering wheels, windows, bumps, and wheels among other components.
Unusually for a Forza game, however, there’s no racing in Forza Customs. While you can customise cars you own, you can’t drive or race them. Instead, gameplay is limited to simple puzzle minigames, showcased in a video playthrough by DJKustoms. It’s essentially Candy Crush with cars.
If you were hoping for Forza’s equivalent of Real Racing 3 or CSR2 Racing, you’re going to be disappointed.
$115 microtransactions
Completing levels by solving puzzles unlocks credits to customise cars. There’s also a time limit. Playing levels cost lives, which regenerate every 30 minutes. You can also use breakers earned in winning streaks to advance quicker and upgrade cars.
Of course, because this is a free-to-play mobile game, you can also purchase lives and breakers with microtransactions to save time. These optional microtransactions range from $2.49 for 1,000 in-game credits to a whopping $114.99 for 60,000 credits. Ironically, this option is dubbed the “best value.”
Since the game isn't available in the US yet, it's not clear if this is in US or Australian dollars. However, Australian dollars are usually displayed as AUD or A$, so it's most likely US dollars. Based on current exchange rates, 114.99 AUD is $73.44 and £58.49. $114.99 USD converts to £91.53.
To make matters worse, Forza Customs isn’t an all-new game. It’s based on another mobile game called Custom Car Works, rebranded as a Forza game to reach a wider audience.
This isn’t the first time this has happened. Forza Street was previously known as Miami Street before being rebranded. Forza Street launched in 2019 but is no longer playable as the servers were shut down in spring 2022.
For now, Forza Customs can only be downloaded in Australia, the Netherlands, and the Philippines on iOS and Android, with more regions to follow. There are other ways to download it, however.