Forza Motorsport 7 to head to sunset in September

Forza Motorsport 7 will no longer be available for purchase from the Microsoft Store or to play on Xbox Game Pass after September 15, 2021, as it reaches “end of life” status. The game won’t go away entirely – if you own it, you’ll still be able to download and play it, and multiplayer will still be accessible, but anyone without the game won’t be able to purchase the digital version. According to To obligate Twitter account, this is happening because the game’s licenses for using real-world cars and tracks are starting to expire.

If you are for a long time To obligate fan, you may have seen this happen before. Games in the series have historically been taken off the list around four years after release. Horizon 3 was delisted in September 2020 after its launch in September 2016, and Motorsport 6 was removed from Microsoft’s online store in September 2019, following its launch in September 2015.

With Motorsport 7, there is the Xbox Game Pass complication. The game will no longer be available on the service after September 15, which leads to an interesting question: what about people who haven’t purchased the game, but have purchased DLC to play with the Game version? Pass? Forza says anyone in this situation will receive a “token” that will allow them to continue playing the game. The token will be sent to players by August 2 and must be used by September 15, 2023.

When the Forza twitter account tweeted that the games were being removed from the list due to license expiration, fans were quick to point out that some other racing games did not appear to have this issue. For example, Need speed rivals, which features real cars, launched in 2013 and is currently on sale in the Microsoft Store. The edge contacted EA to get an idea of ​​how they are authorizing cars for games, but did not immediately receive a response.

The Forza model sounds curious: Games clearly have a lot of work to do, and they’re often seen as the standard for the quality of racing games. Then, after about four years, they become much harder to buy. A colleague of mine mourned the loss of the aforementioned person Horizon 3, which he considers the best game in the series. I’ve never played it and would like to know what makes it so good – but I can’t get the game (second-hand physical copies are available, but apparently not for PC, and I don’t own an Xbox ).

It’s not necessarily to point fingers or shame Team Forza. As EA Sports and the NCAA have shown, digitizing the real world in a playable form can be complicated when there are people or brands involved. In addition, manufacturers of hyper and super cars, such as those featured in Forza, can be particularly protective of their brand. Famous, Ferrari would have sent the musician Deadmau5 a letter of cease and desist for the personalization of his car. It’s just weird that, for some reason, this is how Forza handles licensing.

Although it may be unfortunate that Forza Motorsport 7 is pulled from Microsoft’s virtual shelves, there’s a silver lining: If you want to get it before it’s gone, the game’s Standard, Deluxe, and Ultimate editions are all 75% off, selling out respectively at $ 9.99, $ 14.99 and $ 19.99. According to the Forza support article, they will be on sale until September 15, and the game will still be playable after it is no longer available for purchase.