Forza Motorsport Release Date, Cars, And Everything We Know

The eighth Forza Motorsport--simply titled Forza Motorsport, rather than Forza Motorsport 8--is coming out in Spring 2023. It's been in development for years by Turn 10, which considers this upcoming Forza Motorsport a reboot of the series--a change in fortune for the franchise, which makes sense, considering FM7's lackluster reception.

Motorsport differs from its popular franchise sibling, Forza Horizon--the more loose, arcade-style racing game--by featuring cars on closed-circuit race tracks instead of an open-world setting. Here's everything we know about the eighth Forza Motorsport.

Forza Motorsport release date and early access

Forza Motorsport will be released on October 10. It's the first game in the sub-series since 2017's Forza Motorsport 7, a period that saw the release of two Forza Horizon games and the now-shuttered Forza Street mobile game.

Similar to the release of Starfield, you'll be able to play Forza Motorsport early if you buy the Premium Edition or the Premium Add-ons Bundle if you're planning to get the game through Xbox Game Pass. This will allow you to start playing Forza Motorsport on October 5, five days early. Depending on your location, you can expect the early access period to begin at the following times:

For the extras, the Premium edition comes with the Car Pass--one new car a week for 30 weeks--the Race Day Car Pack, VIP Membership that'll help you earn more in-game credits, and the Welcome Pack.

Why Forza Motorsport doesn't have a number attached to it

Technically the eighth game in the Forza Motorsport series, the exclusion of a number next to the title was a deliberate decision to help show what the game aims to be, according to Xbox head Phil Spencer.

In an interview, Spencer confirmed that because the new game will be a "service platform" a fresh start was needed, one that didn't come with certain expectations that developer Turn 10 would need to quickly move on to a new numbered title after the game launches.

"And it's like, no, we want this to be a place that people feel like they can invest their time, they can invest their experience, and know that this is a place that we're going to be investing in Forza Motorsport for years to come," Spencer said.

Forza Motorsport platforms

Forza Motorsport is coming to PC and Xbox Series X|S. It will also be a day one Xbox Game Pass release. As you'd expect, there will be graphical differences between Series X and S: Forza Motorsport will run at 4K 60 FPS on Xbox Series X and 1080p 60 FPS on Xbox Series S.

An Xbox One edition has not been announced, but it's possible the game will be playable on that console via Xbox cloud streaming. You'll also need to be connected to the internet to progress in the game, but a Free Play mode will be available for offline sessions.

Forza Motorsport PC requirements

Minimum Specs (Low Settings)

• CPU: Intel i5-8400 6 Cores @2.8Ghz / AMD Ryzen 5 1600 6 Cores @3.2 Ghz
• CPU Cores: 6 Physical cores
• GPU: Intel GTX 1060 (6GB) / AMD RX 5500 XT
• VRAM: 4GB
• System RAM: 8 GB Dedicated
• Storage: SSD with 130 GB free space

Recommended Specs (High Settings)

• CPU: Intel i5-11600k / Ryzen 5 5600X
• CPU Cores: 6 physical cores
• GPU: Intel RTX 2080 TI / RX 6800 XT
• VRAM: 8 GB
• System RAM: 16 GB
• Storage: SSD with 130 GB free space

Ideal Specs (Ultra Settings)

• CPU: Intel i7-11700k / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
• CPU Cores: 8 physical cores
• GPU: Intel RTX 4080 / RX 7900XT
• VRAM: 16 GB
• System RAM: 16 GB
• Storage: NvME SSD with 130 GB free space

Better physics, better graphics

Forza Motorsport's trailers thus far have focused on the graphical upgrades--"dynamic time of day" is a big buzzword--and improved physics. But in addition to trailers, tidbits of info have also dribbled from various Forza Monthly episodes and Forza blogposts.

The devs claim Forza Motorsport has "48 times the improvement in the fidelity of the physics simulation" as compared to past Motorsport titles. 4K resolution (on Series X), real-time ray tracing, shaders, and 3D material scans will add even more realism to cars and race track environments.

Where does the number 48 come from? Creative director Esaki explained in a Forza Monthly episode that "48 times the improvement" is meant to reflect the massive generational leap between Forza Motorsport 7 and 8.

"The changes we've made from Forza Motorsport 7 till now is more than the changes we've made from 4 to 7," Esaki said. "To use our tire collision model as an example: From Forza Motorsport from 4 to 7, all of our collision model itself had a single point of contact with the track surface and refreshed at about 60 Hz.

"Our new model now, instead of one point of contact, has eight points of contact with the track surface and is running at 360 Hz. So if you're doing the math there, it's a 48x fidelity jump in a single tire collision itself."

According to Esaki, the upgraded tire collision model means players can better feel the track surface, and there's increased car-to-player communication. And while the tire model having a lot more points of contact with the road seems like an abstract idea, Esaki later clarifies--likely after seeing the memes around the number 48--that getting the tire model right is the most important aspect of FM's physics.

Esaki also says curbs are another subtle, yet meaningful place players can feel a difference in. "In past [Forza Motorsport] games, curbs have been viewed as somewhat coarse or unsettling," Esaki said. "And I think that has dramatically changed. They feel great to drive over now. They're smooth and natural."

"Fully dynamic time of day," a feature headlining FM's promotions, will provide a more realistic simulation of different racing tracks and will also be available on every track. Different times of day will produce different ambient temperatures, a factor that will affect track surface temperature and grip.

And for those who enjoy faithful renderings of banged-up cars, Forza Motorsport will include more realistic car damage. That means scratches on bodywork, wear on tires, and other damage marks.

Forza Motorsport won't have split-screen support on launch

Microsoft confirmed in August that Forza Motorsport will launch without several legacy features, including split-screen support, a spectator mode, or the ability to race against AI in some multiplayer modes. According to Spencer, the lack of split-screen has nothing to do with technical limitations but was instead a creative choice by the team.

"Forza Motorsport was never going to have split-screen. That's just a decision the team made based on usage," Spencer said. "Microsoft sees the data around how many people use split-screen, and it's not enough to justify the development effort to make it happen this time. We see how many people play in split-screen and just decided to put our dev effort where people are actually playing."

Redesigned pit experience

A redesigned pit experience will also be part of the next FM. There will be a different tire and fuel management system, multiple tire compounds, and in general, more car building activities.

"In the playtest, we were offering hard, medium, and soft compounds, and are looking to expand that over time--depending on how we're going to be running the different events," Esaki said. "Each of our compounds has different wear and grip characteristics, leading to exciting new gameplay decisions during the race."

Multiplayer

According to a Forza Year In Review blogpost, FM devs have been testing multiplayer in the form of a race weekend consisting of open practice, qualifying, and a featured race calendar of events. It sounds like FM's multiplayer format is in flux and subject to change. Turn 10 says they're considering creating qualifiers during the week and holding the featured race on the weekend, or qualifiers during the day and race at night.

Open practice will also have a corner mastery feature that will go beyond track leaderboards. Turn 10 says it hopes the corner mastery system can become a more social feature.

Forza Motorsport track list

Forza Motorsport will launch with 20 confirmed tracks, which Turn 10 says are completely rebuilt circuits from around the world with multiple layouts, including five never-before-seen tracks in a Motorsport game. Each track features fully dynamic time-of-day with weather, live crowds, and temperature changes that have an impact on driving.

Some of the highlights include Maple Valley, an autumnal track from the original 2005 Forza Motorsport, the "super-flowy" South African Kyalami track, and the iconic Laguna Seca.

After launch, players can expect new content to be regularly added to the game. One of the tracks coming in 2024 is the 12.9-mile Nordschleife.

• Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
• Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
• Eaglerock Speedway
• Grand Oak Raceway
• Hakone Circuit
• Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit
• Laguna Seca Raceway
• Le Mans - Circuit International de la Sarthe
• Maple Valley
• Mugello Circuit
• Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
• Nürburgring GP
• Road America
• Silverstone Circuit
• Suzuka Circuit
• Virginia International Raceway

Forza Motorsport car list

Most of us can't afford a hypercar, but we can live vicariously through the collection of high-speed greats that'll be available in Forza Motorsport. The game will have over 500 cars to collect on launch day, and more dream cars will be added after launch. Like previous games, you can expect a mix of American muscle cars, European sports cars, and Japanese classics in the lineup. Below, we've focused on cars that got extended time in the trailers and popular ones that will be highly anticipated.

• 2018 BMW #1 M8 GTE--The gameplay video centers quite a bit on the M8, likely a familiar car to most FM players. It was available in FM7 as a free download.
• 2020 Toyota GR Supra--This car is a Forza Horizon 5 fan favorite, so it's exciting FM will also be getting it. This fifth-generation Supra has faced some mixed reviews for its BMW-like qualities--not quite reaching the acclaim of its 1998 predecessor (we can thank Fast & Furious for the Supra's cultural ascendancy)--but is a smooth ride overall.
• 2020 Lamborghini Huracan EVO--The ​​2014 Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 was beautiful, so it's nice to see a very new, very shiny improvement on the LP show up in-game. You can check out the comparison between Huracan EVO and LP in a YouTube video.
• 2019 McLaren Senna--This is another popular FH5 vehicle crossing over into FM. In real-life, it's a limited-edition car that's really rare. Like, no exaggeration: only 75 have been made.
• 2018 Mercedes-AMG GT3--The AMG GT3 is Esaki's favorite. Great shape. Beautiful car. What's not to love?
• 2020 Nissan GT-R Nismo (R35)--Nissan's GT-Rs are very popular--one could even say legendary--so it's nice to see one of the newer Nissan GT-R versions come to FM.
• 2018 Formula Drift #64 Nissan 370Z--An oldie but a goodie. This drift car first appeared in FM4.

Trailers

As we get closer to Forza Motorsport's release date, we'll undoubtedly see more Forza Monthly episodes with extra details. So stay tuned for future coverage on Turn 10's highly anticipated racing sim. We'll update here with any new info.