[GameSpot] - Forza Motorsport Release Date, Cars, And Everything We Know

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The eighth Forza Motorsport--simply titled Forza Motorsport, rather than Forza Motorsport 8--is coming out in Spring 2023. It's been in development for years by Turn 10, which considers this upcoming Forza Motorsport a reboot of the series--a change in fortune for the franchise, which makes sense, considering FM7's lackluster reception.

Motorsport differs from its popular franchise sibling, Forza Horizon--the more loose, arcade-style racing game--by featuring cars on closed-circuit race tracks instead of an open-world setting. Here's everything we know about the eighth Forza Motorsport.

Release date

Forza Motorsport will be released in Spring 2023. It's the first game in the sub-series since 2017's Forza Motorsport 7, a period which saw the release of two Forza Horizon games and the now-shuttered Forza Street mobile game. A more specific release date has not yet been confirmed, but it's a return to the launch window of earlier games in the series, as more recent Motorsport entries have been released during the fall.

Platforms

Forza Motorsport is coming to PC and Xbox Series X|S. It will also be a day one Xbox Game Pass release. As you'd expect, there will be graphical differences between Series X and S: Forza Motorsport will run at 4K 60 FPS on Xbox Series X and 1080p 60 FPS on Xbox Series S.

An Xbox One edition has not been announced, but it's possible the game will be playable on that console via Xbox cloud streaming.

Better physics, better graphics

Forza Motorsport's trailers thus far have focused on the graphical upgrades--"dynamic time of day" is a big buzzword--and improved physics. But in addition to trailers, tidbits of info have also dribbled from various Forza Monthly episodes and Forza blogposts.

The devs claim Forza Motorsport has "48 times the improvement in the fidelity of the physics simulation" as compared to past Motorsport titles. 4K resolution (on Series X), real-time ray tracing, shaders, and 3D material scans will add even more realism to cars and race track environments.

Where does the number 48 come from? Creative director Esaki explained in a Forza Monthly episode that "48 times the improvement" is meant to reflect the massive generational leap between Forza Motorsport 7 and 8.

"The changes we've made from Forza Motorsport 7 till now is more than the changes we've made from 4 to 7," Esaki said. "To use our tire collision model as an example: From Forza Motorsport from 4 to 7, all of our collision model itself had a single point of contact with the track surface and refreshed at about 60 Hz.

"Our new model now, instead of one point of contact, has eight points of contact with the track surface and is running at 360 Hz. So if you're doing the math there, it's a 48x fidelity jump in a single tire collision itself."

According to Esaki, the upgraded tire collision model means players can better feel the track surface, and there's increased car-to-player communication. And while the tire model having a lot more points of contact with the road seems like an abstract idea, Esaki later clarifies--likely after seeing the memes around the number 48--that getting the tire model right is the most important aspect of FM's physics.

Esaki also says curbs are another subtle, yet meaningful place players can feel a difference in. "In past [Forza Motorsport] games, curbs have been viewed as somewhat coarse or unsettling," Esaki said. "And I think that has dramatically changed. They feel great to drive over now. They're smooth and natural."

"Fully dynamic time of day," a feature headlining FM's promotions, will provide a more realistic simulation of different racing tracks and will also be available on every track. Different times of day will produce different ambient temperatures, a factor that will affect track surface temperature and grip.

And for those who enjoy faithful renderings of banged-up cars, Forza Motorsport will include more realistic car damage. That means scratches on bodywork, wear on tires, and other damage marks.

Redesigned pit experience

A redesigned pit experience will also be part of the next FM. There will be a different tire and fuel management system, multiple tire compounds, and in general, more car building activities.

"In the playtest, we were offering hard, medium, and soft compounds, and are looking to expand that over time--depending on how we're going to be running the different events," Esaki said. "Each of our compounds has different wear and grip characteristics, leading to exciting new gameplay decisions during the race."

Multiplayer

According to a Forza Year In Review blogpost, FM devs have been testing multiplayer in the form of a race weekend consisting of open practice, qualifying, and a featured race calendar of events. It sounds like FM's multiplayer format is in flux and subject to change. Turn 10 says they're considering creating qualifiers during the week and holding the featured race on the weekend, or qualifiers during the day and race at night.

Open practice will also have a corner mastery feature that will go beyond track leaderboards. Turn 10 says it hopes the corner mastery system can become a more social feature.

Tracks

A full track list is not available yet, but we do know of a few tracks that will be present. The Xbox & Bethesda FM trailer showed off five.

• Maple Valley--The autumnal track in the original 2005 Motorsport will be back in the eighth Forza Motorsport.
• Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps--This Grand Prix location is popularly referred to as Spa. The Eau Rogue corner, a famous spot in Spa, featured in the trailer as well.
• Laguna Seca--This is another traditional FM track. "We laser scanned the track," Esaki said in a June 2022 Forza Monthly episode. "[There] are tons of new details in the actual track itself, like the detail of the surface."
• Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit--A South African real-life track that will be new to Motorsport. "It's super flowy, has some technical parts to it, and has some high speed parts to it." Esaki said. "And tons of elevation changes."
• Circuit Hakone--A brand-new, original FM track set in Japan, close to Mount Fuji. It's a more romantic setting with cherry blossoms.

Hakone is an all-new, original high speed Grand Prix circuit in the new Forza Motorsport. We can’t wait for everyone to experience it!#ForzaMotorsport pic.twitter.com/V8Bo6t8lnV

— Forza Motorsport (@ForzaMotorsport) June 15, 2022

Cars

There's not a complete roster of cars in Forza Motorsport currently available. But between FM's demo and the trailer, 37 cars were shown and the full list can be found over at Turn 10's announcement page. A lot of the revealed vehicles are making their debut in Motorsport, and from a glance, there's quite a few GT cars. Below, we've focused on cars that got extended time in the trailers and popular ones that will be highly anticipated.

• 2018 BMW #1 M8 GTE--The gameplay video centers quite a bit on the M8, likely a familiar car to most FM players. It was available in GT7 as a free download.
• 2020 Toyota GR Supra--This car is a Forza Horizon 5 fan favorite, so it's exciting FM will also be getting it. This fifth-generation Supra has faced some mixed reviews for its BMW-like qualities--not quite reaching the acclaim of its 1998 predecessor (we can thank Fast & Furious for the Supra's cultural ascendancy)--but is a smooth ride overall.
• 2020 Lamborghini Huracan EVO--The ​​2014 Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 was beautiful, so it's nice to see a very new, very shiny improvement on the LP show up in-game. You can check out the comparison between Huracan EVO and LP in a YouTube video.
• 2019 McLaren Senna--This is another popular FH5 vehicle crossing over into FM. In real-life, it's a limited-edition car that's really rare. Like, no exaggeration: only 75 have been made.
• 2018 Mercedes-AMG GT3--The AMG GT3 is Esaki's favorite. Great shape. Beautiful car. What's not to love?
• 2020 Nissan GT-R Nismo (R35)--Nissan's GT-Rs are very popular--one could even say legendary--so it's nice to see one of the newer Nissan GT-R versions come to FM.
• 2018 Formula Drift #64 Nissan 370Z--An oldie but a goodie. This drift car first appeared in FM4.

Trailers

As we get closer to Forza Motorsport's release date, we'll undoubtedly see more Forza Monthly episodes with extra details. So stay tuned for future coverage on Turn 10's highly anticipated racing sim. We'll update here with any new info.

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