Out of Microsoft's first party titles, Forza Horizon 4 is certainly the most anticipated one right now. The third installment already garnered widespread acclaim and developer Playground Games is looking to build on that by expanding the feature set and delivering a stunning British backdrop to the game.
Speaking with GamesIndustry at Gamescom 2018, Aaron Greenberg (Global Product Marketing Manager of Xbox) said that the expectation is for Forza Horizon 4 to become the biggest and best-selling title ever in the Forza franchise.
There are fans of the Forza franchise that we know are going to buy every release. The question is, are the more mainstream gamers who maybe buy three games a year, are we going to make that list of three games? And you're right, Forza Horizon 3 greatly exceeded our expectations when it launched and every single month since. It's been incredible.
Horizon 3 was, in many ways, a great open-world game. The game and setting was very unique and, with the quality of the game, it stood out. The challenge for Playground was how do you build on that? Having the setting in beautiful Britain, which as we know is where Playground is based, being able to add in the elements of the four seasons and how that can change gameplay... that is going to take the franchise to a whole other level.
So our expectation is that Forza Horizon 4 is going to be the biggest and best-selling Forza game that we've ever launched. Currently, our pre-order tracking is well ahead of where we want and tracking ahead of where we were with Forza Horizon 3. So the early indicators are really good. And that's before you get into the fact that this title will be in Game Pass, which will allow it to reach another set of gamers who may never have played or bought the game.
After playing it at Gamescom, Chris had great things to say about Forza Horizon 4. The game is out on October 2nd for Windows 10 PC and Xbox One.
Forza Horizon 4 looks, sounds and feels absolutely fantastic, though. Add into that the changing seasons, the beautiful environments and the considerably more complex verticality of the Scottish Highlands and you’re on to a winner.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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