The sequel to Forza Motorsport 7, simply titled Forza Motorsport, or referred to as the “all-new Forza Motorsport”, got a big showing at Xbox & Bethesda Showcase 2022. We get to see gameplay of the game running in-engine, captured on Xbox Series X, while hearing a lot more details of the improvements for the racing game.
As previously communicated before, there are a lot of improvements being made to the simulation. All tracks coming to the new Forza Motorsport are built from the ground up and support dynamic time and day (though no mention of a dynamic weather system yet, but weather as an option was mentioned once in passing).
The gameplay video revealed new tracks coming to Forza Motorsport such as the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in South Africa and an original, fantasy track named Hakone Circuit set in Japan. Laguna Seca in the US (which was seen in the original teaser), Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and the fictional, Forza-original Maple Valley return for the new Forza.
Maple Valley, one of the original tracks from the original 2005 Forza Motorsport was the centrepiece of the gameplay video, where the video shows a far shot of the environments only to zoom into the cars on track once in a while, a similar (and really cool) trick like we saw when Forza Horizon 5 was revealed.
There’s a lot of variety in the car selection as well. Classic open-wheelers and endurance race cars from the ’60s, modern hypercars, LMP1 and DPi prototype racing machines of the present are seen doing laps. Even the Mazda 787B, the orange and green Le Mans winner with a very distinct engine note, is here.
From the Forza Motorsport site, here’s the list of cars that were seen in the trailer and gameplay demo:
- 2018 Acura #36 Gradient Racing NSX GT3
- 2020 Acura #6 ARX-05 DPi
- 1958 Aston Martin DBR1
- 2017 Aston Martin Aston Martin Racing V12 Vantage GT3 #7
- 2018 Audi #44 R8 LMS GT3
- 2021 Audi RS e-tron GT
- 2017 BMW #24 BMW Team RLL M6 GTLM
- 2018 BMW #1 BMW M Motorsport M8 GTE
- 2019 Brabham BT62
- 2021 Cadillac #31 Whelen Racing DPi-V.R
- 1966 Chaparral #66 Chaparral Cars 2E
- 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Super Sport Coupe
- 2020 Chevrolet #3 Corvette Racing C8.R
- 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Coupé
- 1969 Dodge Charger R/T
- 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon
- 1967 Eagle-Weslake T1G
- 1967 Ferrari #24 Ferrari Spa 330 P4
- 1966 Ford #2 GT40 Mk II Le Mans
- 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302
- 2018 Formula Drift #64 Nissan 370Z
- 2020 Formula Drift #151 Toyota GR Supra
- 2019 Ginetta #6 Team LNT Ginetta G60-LT-P1
- 1967 Honda RA300
- 2020 Koenigsegg Jesko
- 2018 Lamborghini #63 Squadra Corse Huracán Super Trofeo Evo
- 2020 Lamborghini Huracan EVO
- 1991 Mazda #55 Mazda 787B
- 1966 McLaren M2B
- 2019 McLaren Senna GTR
- 2018 Mercedes-AMG GT3
- 1970 Mercury Cougar Eliminator
- 2016 NIO EP9
- 2019 Nissan 370Z Nismo
- 2020 Nissan GT-R NISMO (R35)
- 2017 Porsche #911 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR
- 2021 Porsche 911 GT3
Interestingly, developers Turn 10 make a big deal out of the car damage model improvements. The scratches, dents and dirt that picks up are simulated and not just texture swaps. The direction of damage and which part of the car that got hit will determine how the paint peels off and such. Though we only see cars getting a bit crumpled, so don’t expect major visual damages for now.
That said, this new Forza Motorsport looks to be a huge upgrade to a more sim-based racing game than its past entries. Tyre simulation and track temperature changing with the change of time are some of the new improvements to the simulation.
Also, ray-tracing is here, running while you are racing, as compared to Forza Horizon 5 which only has it in stationary scenes.
More Forza Motorsport news details will be shared on the next Forza Monthly stream on June 16, where the developers will give more insights on what we saw in this trailer.
Forza Motorsport will be available sometime in Spring (Q2) 2023 on Xbox Series X|S and PC. Like all Xbox Game Studios’ first-party titles, the game will be out on day-1 on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.