Forza Year in Review – 2022

From the release of Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels and the 10-Year Anniversary celebration of the Forza Horizon series to the first gameplay reveal of the all-new Forza Motorsport, as well as monthly series updates for Forza Horizon 5 and ongoing community Rivals events in Forza Motorsport 7, this has undoubtedly been a busy year for Forza fans.

To kickstart this Year in Review, we’re celebrating some of the most creative content submitted into our weekly Forza Horizon 5 Photo and Livery Contests. We’ve taken all the frontrunners from the past year and put them head-to-head in the ultimate showdown! Here are the winners and don’t forget to check out the Forza Forums for the full gallery of submissions.

Best of 2022 in FH5 Photos | Best of 2022 in FH5 Liveries

Community Leaders

Community is at the heart of the Forza franchise, and we’re constantly in awe of the incredible accomplishments of our players. Before we dive into everything that we’ve done this year, here’s an overview of what just some of most prominent community leaders have achieved.

The Forza Spec Racing Series kicked off 2022 with its 44th season. LS Subaru continued their success from the year prior by securing a third consecutive championship and would go on to dominate the year’s schedule. In total, 47 drivers took on 54 races in six different vehicles. For 2023, the series celebrates ten years running with Season 50 starting January 10. No matter your racing finesse, everyone is invited to participate. Learn more and register on the r/FM4 subreddit.

In March, the long-running community racing league TORA (The Online Racing Association) hosted the 12 Hours of Sebring Revival on Forza Motorsport 7, where a staggering 106 teams – yes, you read that correctly – took the green flag across six lobbies with Daytona Prototype and GT machinery producing some epic racing action. From morning into darkness, the fight for the lead was never certain, with multiple teams holding the top spot in each stint. This event proved you should never give up on a race, as the winners ESV can attest to!

Fast forward to June when Forzatography Central hosted their special FTC30 event, 30 days of Forzatography. Each day featured a unique theme to spotlight the absolute best of the community's creativity. With so many wonderful pictures from both newcomers and veterans alike, it was truly incredible to see it all come together. To stay up to date with their latest Forzatography goodness, be sure to follow the FTCentral page.

2022 has been an exciting year for the FH5 Livery & Designs team resulting in 60 incredible designs being shared for everyone to download in Forza Horizon 5. With livery competitions ranging from Muscle Cars, Drift Kings to Halloween, the creativity and skill of this community was on full display all year long. The Halloween event proved to be a particular favorite among the team’s admins thanks to a staggering number of fearsome entries suitable for some thrilling scares across the Horizon Festival.

January

We started 2022 by celebrating the Lunar New Year in Forza Horizon 5 with lanterns dressing the streets of Guanajuato, new Trailblazer PR Stunts, new Festival Playlist reward cars such as the 2003 Toyota Celica SS-I and the 2016 Zenvo TS1, and new Car Pass vehicles like the 1993 Jaguar XJ220S TWR and the 2018 Ferrari FXX-K Evo.

Over in Forza Motorsport 7, we highlighted the return of Master Chief following the release of Halo Infinite one month prior. Players would drive the 2016 Jeep Trailcat on the Dubai Mountain Circuit to unlock Master Chief Driver Gear and an exclusive Halo Infinite livery – with a special Spartan-117 version reserved exclusively for those fastest lap times in the top 20% of the leaderboard.

At the end of the month, we invited our close friend of the Forza franchise and two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden to throw it down in a special Rivals events featuring the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Pace Car on Watkins Glen. Josef would return in March and May with two additional events, featuring the 2015 #10 Konica Minolta Corvette on Brands Hatch GP and his very own 2019 Chevrolet #2 Team Penske Dallara at “The Brickyard” on Indianapolis Motor Speedway to celebrate the Indy 500. Rewards were just as aplenty, including exclusive Josef Newgarden liveries for each vehicle, as well as special variants for those who beat Josef’s time. Chevrolet and Indianapolis Driver Gear were also up for grabs.

February

The Horizon World Cup made its Mexico splash in February. You could support France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK or the USA by driving the cars of the country you wanted to cheer on in Festival Playlist events. Racesuits representing each of the competing countries were unlocked, while new Chinese cars were introduced into the Forza franchise for the first time, including the all-electric 2016 NIO EP9, the 2013 Wuling Sunshine S microvan and the 2015 MG MG3, which is the most popular Chinese manufactured car sold today in the UK!

Car Pass owners also received a new collection of cars, including the aggressively styled yet iconic 2005 MG XPower SV-R, a modern revision of one of the most renowned hatchbacks in the world, the 2021 Volkswagen Golf R, and a legend in Japanese hot-hatchback design, the 1992 Mazda 323 GT-R.

With this update, we also introduced the option to save and edit EventLab Blueprints, which had been highly requested from the community since Forza Horizon 5 released.

Japan emerged on top of the Horizon World Cup followed by France and Germany respectively. Check out the infographic below for a refresher on your incredible accomplishments throughout the greatest sporting event at the Horizon Festival:

March

The Horizon Rush Takeover introduced several new PR Stunts and even transformed the Horizon Stadium into a dedicated Stunt Park where players could show off their best driving skills. With this update, we also expanded our accessibility options with American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) for cinematics, a feature that makes Forza Horizon 5 accessible to more players.

In addition to new EventLab props for creators, this update introduced some important fixes to the Festival Playlist and Photo Mode, as well as improvements to the Livery Editor interface and traffic synchronisation. For your garage, there was the aggressive and fast 2020 Nissan GT-R NISMO (R35) and the 1965 MINI Cooper S Forza Edition, while Car Pass holders received the 2006 Noble M400 and the 2017 Ferrari #25 Corse Clienti 488 Challenge.

In March, we also launched the new Forza Forums with a revamped navigation layout and faster loading, forum tags, as well as thread sorting.

To celebrate women in motorsports as part of Women’s History Month, we teamed up with professional race car driver Shannon McIntosh who inspired a new Rivals event, and its reward, in Forza Motorsport 7. Drivers would set their fastest times in the 2013 Ford Formula Ford EcoBoost 200 on Maple Valley to unlock an exclusive livery for that vehicle, which pays homage to Janet Guthrie and the IndyCar that she raced in the 1978 Indy 500. Drivers in the top 40% also received the elusive M. Rossi Driver Gear.

Later in the month, we released another Forza Horizon 5 update. Horizon Customs celebrated both the creative and racing talents of our community with Horizon Open Custom Racing, new unlockable Badges, and new EventLab features such as the Scale Gravity rule and improvements to terrain visibility at high altitude to provide a better visual experience when playing certain Blueprints.

Drift Club also made its mark on Mexico with the return of Welshman Robert Glenn and a new set of challenges, where you could get behind the wheel of the revolutionary 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E 1400, courtesy of Formula Drift champion and RTR Vehicles founder Vaughn Gittin Jr. This car is incredibly unique with its ability to seamlessly swap between RWD and AWD at a button push.

Over on the Festival Playlist we introduced the 2021 McLaren 765LT Coupe and the 2012 Ascari KZ1R, while Car Pass holders could drive the race-ready 2021 McLaren 620R and the 2021 MINI John Cooper Works GP, the fastest MINI ever.

April

April saw us bring Cinco de Mayo to life in Forza Horizon 5. As an annual celebration of Mexico’s culture, cuisine and heritage, new colorful decorations were displayed in Guanajuato, and we introduced new character cosmetics inspired by Mexico’s murals. We also added over 200 new Horizon Tour championships including S2 class racing, while new props and customizable rule conditions become available in EventLab, such as “Get Engine Torque” and “Get Gravity.”

We also brought in fixes for Treasure Chests not solving, the Weekly Forzathon Challenge not registering the required car being owned and driven in the first chapter, and stalls on PC when challenging other players to head-to-head races.

Over on the Festival Playlist, we gave players a chance to unlock the car that celebrated 90 years of Scuderia Ferrari, the 2020 Ferrari SF90 Stradale, as well as the 2020 Ferrari F8 Tributo, a car that pays homage to the Prancing Horse’s most powerful V8 yet. Meanwhile, the Car Pass received the 2014 Forsberg Racing Nissan 'SafariZ' 370Z and the 2008 Dodge Magnum SRT8.

To celebrate Earth Day on April 22 and support Microsoft and Xbox’s commitment to reduce our carbon footprint and to raise awareness with our community, we featured a Forza Motorsport 7 Rivals event on VIR – Grand West featuring the 2010 Chevy #99 Green Earth Team Gunnar Oreca FLM09. All participants received an Earth Day themed livery on the 2015 BMW i8, while those in the top 40% unlocked an Earth Day themed Driver Gear.

May

Just before Forza’s busiest month on the calendar, we celebrated German Automotive Excellence in Forza Horizon 5 with new cars like the 2021 Porsche 911 GT3 and the 2018 Audi RS 4 Avant, while over in the Car Pass, we introduced the 2020 BMW M8 Competition Coupe and the 2020 Audi RS 3 Sedan.

We teamed up with the Petersen Automotive Museum for a special Rivals event in Forza Motorsport 7 as they celebrated BMW’s 50th anniversary of the M series car. Players would set their fastest lap times on Laguna Seca in the 1975 BMW #25 BMW Motorsport 3.0 CSL to unlock two unique red and blue liveries for the car, inspired by the exterior design of the Petersen Museum.

June

Undoubtedly the biggest month of the year for Forza fans, we were at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase to reveal Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels, which released on July 19, as well as the first ever gameplay of Forza Motorsport.

In the first expansion for Forza Horizon 5, players would venture to the visually stunning, exhilarating new Hot Wheels Park in the clouds high above Mexico with over 200 km of twisting, looping iconic orange track! Across four new biomes packed with spectacular detail and diversity, drivers were challenged with unique track types such as gravity defying magnet tracks as well as ice, water flume, and rumble tracks. EventLab also expanded with 80 new snappable track and stunt pieces, which allows expansion owners to build their dream Hot Wheels tracks anywhere in Mexico or on Hot Wheels Park. Meanwhile, the cars… we’ll let the Bad to the Blade, the Deora II, the 2021 Hennessey Venom F5 and the 2019 Brabham BT62 all speak for themselves.

To prepare for the expansion, the Festival Playlist brought four weeks of Hot Wheels themed events and rewards, including returning Hot Wheels cars from previous Forza games, as well as Hot Wheels cosmetics and horns. This update saw the final Car Pass vehicles released, including the 2021 Aston Martin DBX, the 2020 Lexus RC F Track Edition and the 2019 Nissan 370z Nismo. It also introduced temporal anti-aliasing (TAA) for PC players, coop play for Horizon Stories, a duplicate car filter and expanded VO and subtitle support for additional languages.

In the first ever gameplay reveal of Forza Motorsport, we showcased how the fan-favorite track Maple Valley is being brought to life in stunning detail and beauty. We also revealed that Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and Laguna Seca would return, alongside Kyalami, our first ever South African track, as well as Hakone, an original, high-speed Grand Prix circuit set in Japan. Fully dynamic time of day and weather is available on every track, while our environments have been captured using photogrammetry and 3D material scans using advanced rendering features to fully immerse you in our Motorsport world.

Based on your feedback, Forza Motorsport introduces new features like tire and fuel management, multiple tire compounds and new in-depth car building. With a 48 times improvement in the fidelity of our physics simulation, advanced car damage reproduced down to the individual scratches on the bodywork, and real-time ray tracing on-track that makes everything feel more connected, natural and real, Forza Motorsport is a generational leap in immersion built from the ground up to showcase the Xbox Series X|S consoles.

A few days later, we were joined by Forza Motorsport Creative Director Chris Esaki on Forza Monthly to discuss everything you saw in our trailer and gameplay video. If you missed it, be sure to check out the interview.

To celebrate Pride 2022 alongside Xbox, in June we gifted all players an exclusive Forza rainbow livery adorning the 2009 Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster in Forza Horizon 5 and Forza Horizon 4, as well as Forza Motorsport 7.

Lastly, we retired ForzaMotorsport.net and launched the new Forza.net to celebrate our players and combine cars, community, and creativity in a sleek, modernized website. It’s very likely that you’re reading this blog on it!

July

In July, we launched the Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels expansion and announced a partnership with Extreme E inviting players to get behind the wheel of the fully-electric Extreme E ODYSSEY 21 e-SUV and experience four weeks of off-road racing action on the Festival Playlist. We also introduced the Hot Wheels signature redline tire compound and 12 new Hot Wheels Spectraflame colors.

August

Forza Horizon 5 players were invited to tour Mexico’s rich heritage of automotive manufacture and racing history in Rami’s Racing History. It featured an eight-chapter Horizon Story called Made in Mexico which explored the major eras of manufacturing and car culture in the country. This update introduced display integration support for the Thrustmaster T248X and a Festival Playlist highlighting four unique eras of cars with special Classic Wednesday Sales on the Forzathon Shop.

New cars included the second generation 2021 BMW M4 Competition Coupe and the futuristic 2020 Xpeng P7 sedan. The Autoshow also received its most expensive car, the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR priced at 140 million credits in honor of the real-world auction that saw it become the most valuable car in the world!

September

The Horizon Road Trip introduced the first of several new body kit pre-sets for Forza Horizon 5, like the ADRO USA widebody for the 2019 Hyundai Veloster N and the APR Performance Inc. widebody for the 2010 Volkswagen Golf R. For character customization, we added a new category called Amplification with a selection of hearing aids in various colors.

The Festival Playlist for this series was inspired by the variety of racing activities available throughout Mexico’s vast landscape with some championships featuring additional races and Goliath-type routes. This update also introduced three new to Forza cars, including the futuristic all-wheel-drive 2021 Audi RS e-tron GT, the aesthetically wild 2021 Audi RS 7 Sportback and the 2021 Lynk & Co 03+ sports saloon.

Later in September, we announced at the Tokyo Game Show that Forza Horizon 5 would celebrate the 10-Year Anniversary of Forza Horizon with a special update featuring a new story, as well as returning cars, music and more.

Meanwhile, on Forza Monthly, we were joined by GM of Motorsport, Dan Greenawalt and Creative Director Chris Esaki for an insightful discussion into the development and production cycles of Forza Motorsport. We also said we’d be sharing more about the game next year leading up to its release in Spring 2023. Be sure to check it out if you missed it.

October

The Horizon 10-Year Anniversary arrived with four weeks of events reliving the series’ most iconic gameplay moments. Completing all five chapters of the Horizon Origins Story unlocked the 2013 Dodge SRT Viper GTS Anniversary Edition paying homage to the original Forza Horizon cover car. Across 16 Street Races, four head-to-head Midnight Battles emerged with each allowing you to score the competitor’s car. Meanwhile, a new Horizon Classics Prop Pack expanded EventLab with 97 recognizable props and structures from previous Forza Horizon games.

The Horizon Mixtape brought a flash of throwback music to your radio dial, with additional songs unlocked on the Festival Playlist. In addition to 22 ADV.1 rims, iconic Forza Horizon cars returned, including the 2010 Ferrari 599XX, the 2011 Koenigsegg Agera, the 2012 Eagle Speedster and the 2010 Aston Martin One-77. With each week themed around Forza Horizon 1-4 and temporary Festival outposts setup around Mexico, there was plenty of nostalgia-fueled driving on tap!

To coincide with the Horizon Festival’s 10-Year Anniversary, we hosted four Rivals events in Forza Motorsport 7 that put your driving skills to the test in special car and track combos that not only celebrated past Forza Horizon games, but also corresponded to the game in the Festival Playlist spotlight in Forza Horizon 5! In addition to exclusive Forza Horizon branded Driver Gear, those who set a lap time in all four events unlocked the highly coveted 1958 MG MGA Twin-Cam.

We also posted a special anniversary blog looking back on the past decade of the Forza Horizon series, reflecting on its growth and evolution over the past ten years. Check it out for a deep dive tour into the history of Forza Horizon!

Additionally in October, we launched the Suggestions Hub on the Forza Forums, the next step on our journey in listening to player feedback. This is a central location for you to share your constructive input and ideas with the teams at Turn 10 and Playground Games. We also have car and track voting, and you can even upvote feature suggestions posted by other players. Here’s a link with all the details to help you get started.

November

Donut Media was on the menu for November’s Forza Horizon 5 update as James and Nolan flew into Horizon Mexico with a brand-new tire-burning Horizon Story. PC players received access to several new options, including NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution, NVIDIA DLAA and AMD FSR 2.2, as well as enhanced DirectX Raytracing pre-sets with car self-reflections in Free Roam and Photo Mode.

This update also included 21 Rocket Bunny kits, a Festival Playlist full of Donut Media goodness and the new-to-franchise 2020 Lynk & Co #100 Cyan Racing 03. Remember that this update was only the beginning of our collaboration with Donut Media with more tasty treats to come in 2023!

December

To mark the end of the first year of the Horizon Festival, Playground Games shared this infographic to highlight all the updates to Forza Horizon 5 over this past year. With 137 cars, over 270 EventLab props and 23 body kits, on top of the constant flow of new events and challenges on the Festival Playlist, 2022 has undoubtedly been a packed year of driving adventures for Forza players.

Today, we’re celebrating the Horizon Holidays in Mexico with the return of car gifting through Secret Santa – and thanks to the generosity of our Forza Horizon 5 community, everyone has already unlocked two incredible rewards: the dazzling Holiday Tree Outfit and the open-top hybrid 2020 Lamborghini Sián Roadster. Redeem yours today from the “Gifts” tab of the Message Center if you haven’t already, where you’ll also find the 2022 CUPRA UrbanRebel Concept through January 5, 2023.

Once you’ve collected all your holiday treats, spread the seasonal joy by visiting the Horizon Wonderland in Mulegé, where you can find limited time holiday sales in the Forzathon Shop, and don’t forget to bring your Convoy to the Ice Rink Stadium for some sliding shenanigans. You’ll also find festive decorations aplenty, from the towns and city of Guanajuato to even your own home!

Over in Forza Motorsport 7, the Triple Crown Rivals event is live through January 3, 2023! You’re invited to race the Turn 10 Community Team across three events voted for by players including Open-Wheel, Prototype and GT Cars, and score incredible rewards along the way.

The events include the 1988 McLaren #12 Honda McLaren MP4 at Suzuka with the Olympia Driver Gear reward, the 1991 Mazda #18 787B at Road Atlanta featuring the JD Driver Gear, and the 2009 BMW #92 Rahal Letterman Racing M3 GT2 at Hockenheimring where you’ll receive the Kait Driver Gear. Those who set a time in all three events will also receive the 2010 Maserati Gran Turismo S Forza Edition and the Master Chief Driver Gear. Check out the event where you can find the list of participating Turn 10 Gamertags. You might even find T10 Tio Forza on the leaderboard.

That wraps up this edition of the Forza Year in Review! Thanks to our incredible community for their continued support, their constructive feedback and input, as well as their creative spirits. We’re grateful to have you all on every road-trip, and we hope you join us in 2023 as we gear up for the launch of the all-new Forza Motorsport and the debut of Forza Horizon 5’s second expansion. Until then, we wish everyone a happy and safe holiday, and a wonderful New Year.