Why We’re Updating Our Forza Code of Conduct

Our Forza Code of Conduct – previously known as Forza Enforcement Guidelines – has been designed to preserve and promote a safe, secure, inclusive and enjoyable experience for everyone in the Forza community. Over the years, we’ve heard your feedback about these policies and how they could be improved.

At Turn 10, our philosophy around enforcement in Forza is to be consistent and fair, ensuring that each player report is handled with the upmost integrity and scrutiny. That means we remain firm in permanently suspending bad actors who, for example, promote hate speech, or make credible threats of violence. However, we believe a newer player who accidentally performs a smaller violation of unsportsmanlike conduct can be given more flexibility. The end goal should result in us continuing to make the game as clean and safe as possible for everybody, while giving players the opportunity to course correct and show that they can contribute positively to our community.

Starting today, we’re making some important changes to our Forza Code of Conduct to ensure our players have the clarity they need to inform themselves of what they can and cannot do in our games. It's also important that enforcement matches the violation, allowing players suspended for less severe incidents the chance to improve their behavior as they are reintegrated into the community.

We understand that for newer players especially, you may not be fully familiar with our rules. After all, the policies that apply to a Forza game aren’t necessarily the same as every other game you’ve played. To alleviate this, first time non-extreme violations of our Forza Code of Conduct will now receive a warning. This ensures that the player is aware of their previous action, and that it’s forbidden in Forza games.

We’re also significantly changing how suspensions and bans are considered. We’re replacing the former three-strike system with new categories of violations, because after all, the enforcement action should be in accordance with the type of offense. In addition, we’ve received feedback from players that the first suspensions are oftentimes too harsh, therefore we’re reducing this from seven days to one day for lower severity violations. Of course, the length of suspensions or even permanent bans is dependent on how extreme the violation is and the number of previous offenses.

These updates to enforcement apply to Forza Horizon 5 and Forza Motorsport once released. Forza Horizon 4 and legacy Forza titles will remain on the prior enforcement system.

While the changes outlined here are specifically related to the banning system itself, there are plenty more details under the hood, so we highly recommend that you take the time to read through our new Forza Code of Conduct which has been updated on the Forza Support website. That way you’ll be fully in the know and what is and isn’t considered acceptable in Forza games, and it should answer any questions that you may have from reading this blog.

These changes have been thoughtfully considered with a focus on clarity and fairness for our players. We hope that they inspire more confidence in our future enforcement decisions, while upholding the highest standards of safety in our Forza community.