Forza Motorsport 7 Update To Remove Loot Boxes

Forza Motorsport 7 will turn a year old in October, and developer Turn 10 is planning a major change to one of its more controversial systems. Prize Crates, the Forza version of loot boxes, will be removed entirely from the game in an upcoming update. In the meantime, the impact of Prize Crates has been significantly reduced.

In the announcement, studio head Alan Hartman says, "The overwhelming feedback has been that this system feels out of place in the game." As a result, both Prize Crates will be removed and paid tokens won't be coming to replace them. Paid tokens also won't be a part of the upcoming Forza Horizon 4.

That said, it won't be just a matter of yanking out the loot boxes all at once. Citing how integrated Prize Crates were into the progression system of Driver Gear, Mods, and Badges, it will take some time to remove them. The team is aiming for winter. To reduce the impact of them, though, they've unlocked more than 100 previously "exclusive" cars and removed cars from prize crates entirely.

"The current lineup of prize crates offer no competitive advantage and only offer Driver Gear suits, Mods, and badges, and these crates will remain in place until crates are removed entirely," the update states.

This isn't the first time Turn 10 had to pull a U-turn on a controversial feature for Forza 7. Upon launch, some fans were annoyed that the VIP membership wasn't clearly communicated and didn't work as it had in previous games. The developer quickly issued a mea culpa and changed the system, and gave some freebies as a make-good.

The removal of prize crates is a slower burn, but that may be that players were more mixed on its implementation. GameSpot's own Forza Motorsport 7 review found prize crates a friendly temptation without feeling onerous or mandatory. Still, a year later the community has spoken, and Turn 10 is turning it around.