I don’t see how they can release Horizon 5 before then next Motorsport game when Horizon 5 hasn’t even been Announced yet. Seems like wishful thinking on Jeff’s part.
With that being said, i hope they don’t run the Horizon series into the ground. Their idea for one Motorsport game that they can expand upon sounds amazing. In comparison I don’t want the Horizon series to start to feel stale. I think if they have a wild idea for 5 that keeps things fresh they should definitely pursue it. But hopefully after that they can put Horizon on the back burner for a while and maybe just continue to release content for it.
We’ve had 7 Motorsport games in a short period of time but it sounds like the next installment is going to truly true to be a “live” game that they can continuously iterate on while possibly working on something else, something new.
I’m glad PG has a Fable team now but I do hope the Horizon team isn’t stuck making Horizon games forever. There’s only so much you can do to keep that same engagement through multiple series.
People working on forza were given the freedom to choose if they wanted to stay on forza or join the fable team.
Lots of people shifted and that’s partly why they have so many jobs listing for the forza team too, besides accounting for expansion.
They have 280 devs on LinkedIn with over 100 listings currently, I think they’re aiming for 200 devs for each of the games.
Also, I think the Forzatech engine in co-developed now, especially with rumors saying that Fable too is using Forzatech. (previously rumored to use unreal)
I would be a little disappointed if horizon 5 is to be cross gen game, if just means we will have to wait another 3 years for the true next gen Horizon.
what kind of true innovation could they make to Horizon to keep it fresh?
A new location alone won’t cut it.
Seasons was an interesting idea, but didn’t blow me away.
Ideas could include:
Local MP: split screen MP. Long overdue.
Manhunt - One car hides somewhere on the map. The others have to find it and tag it.
Different vehicles: boats, hovercrafts, drone racing, even airborne vehicle racing
Multi-vehicle races: across 3 legs. switch vehicles between each leg
Player operated exhibition competitors: other players fly the plane/drone/bikes etc. that you race against
This topic might belong in its own thread, but I agree that the series needs to evolve a bit. I also think the online play needs more modes. I loved Cat & Mouse in PGR and the first FH… I’m not sure why it wasn’t in any other.
The game is a wonderful sandbox that I feel is underutilized. More game modes give us more reasons to play.
I do hope next gen capabilities are leveraged in adding more traffic to some race modes. I’d really like to see a Tokyo Street Racer “fighting game” style mode available, where there’s more emphasis in weaving around traffic.
All with added weather, seasons, etc. from FH4. Instead of travel spots (and load screens) you get to Australia, UK, US, and add on maps by driving on to a cargo plane, ferry, or helicopter lift with a short cut scene using the new speeds of the Series consoles.
So much potential to revitalize a collection. Like, as you used, Master Chief Collection.
The more I think on it, the more I actually like the idea. Forza Horizon is the go-to game for my family (immediate and extended) to play together online. The only other co-op game the wife plays is Diablo 3, but that is getting so dense players seem to spend more time in menus than dungeon crawling now.
So, yeah! A Forza Horizon collection is creeping way up on my wish list.
