So, Turn 10 Studios announced content for Forza Motorsport for the next three months, and… well, I guess these are not the news the players wanted to have. Ehh, just saying. The big news here is that the Endurance Tour, BMW Tour, and Contemporary Tour will be coming back this quarter, and so will the reward cars. Nice, if you missed the rewards the first time! But then, in terms of reaction generally, let us say something: those reactions have certainly not been positive.
This vessel has been released by the official Forza Motorsport Twitter account, which asked players to share their thoughts on which featured tour was the most anticipated to return. Replies flooded the account almost in a tide-like stream of disgruntled frustration, rather than enthusiasm. It is pretty apparent that the majority of the player base had been expecting new content rather than the rehashing of events from quite some time ago in this game’s lifecycle.
One player, Andrew Nichols, simply asked: “So no new content just repeating old stuff?” That sums up the sentiment really well. Another user by the name of Quepouique just said, “Need new contents…” and yeah, that is the vibe. One would expect the players desired new tracks, new cars, maybe new event types – not just the same tours coming back.
Now, the unhappiness is actually far broader than mere disappointment triggered by the announcement of recycled content. Various players took some good time and raised some substantial technical complaints that are still plaguing the game. AloneDalvimar said that “Multiplayer not working,” and her footsteps were soon being followed by Ointerestrates, who groaned aloud, “Your game is not working. I cannot access multiplayer activities at all.” The thread between these two and another user is an all-out attempt to figure out why things aren’t working, mentioning Gamespace subscription issues as well as constant connectivity issues.
This conversation regards technical grievances and is where things become interesting. Dylanpaquette1 said his game “barely ever runs properly on a high-end pc, endless load screens, and crashes.” Klaus Bojesen Nielsen mentioned graphics issues, saying: “the graphics are the worst ever no matter what we use 1080, 2k or 4k, we get snowblinded cause we cant adjust it right.” That’s… not good for a racing game that was supposed to be a showcase for visuals.
What is actually quite intriguing, though, is the way some players have used this announcement to contextualize the recent news within the industry. User Alcoo149 replied to another, “They wont. The game is in ‘auto’ since almost everyone at turn10 gets sacked in June, which means, no more update (with ‘new’ content, only old content bringing back) to the game.” This looks like a reference to the Microsoft lay-offs that happened earlier this year, suggesting that the development team might be operating with reduced capacity.
That sentiment was mirrored by quite a few others who seem to think that the announcement that seemed to confirm that Forza Motorsport is essentially on maintenance mode for meaningful new content updates. User sp7kr8j2ns entered the battle particularly vociferously, saying, “You just confirmed that you don’t give a fuck about your players and the game is fucked.” That’s… pretty intense, but it also depicts how passionate (and frustrated) some players are feeling.
This disappointment has gotten so bad that some of the players are actually telling competing games. Anchor_jello commented, “Might have to get Gran Turismo. Not quite sure why I’m paying monthly for this.” sp7kr8j2ns then answered, “Do it! I loved the PlayStation series when I had a PlayStation!!! It kicks Forza Motorsport ass up one side and down the other.” Ouch. That’s some serious brand loyalty being lost right there.
One Polish user, grubbydon, had a comment in their native language, which translates as: “So from July and we already know that until December there will be no new content for those who honestly earned rewards from the game’s premiere. I will sell Xbox series X.” That’s pretty extreme-someone considering selling their entire console over this announcement.
Not every comment was negative, though. AleArwelloFlor said, “i love the endurance modes, Please add more TRACKS in next updates!?!!” So, at least, someone seems to enjoy the returning content. And then ledfut360 took another route, saying, “None. I cruise around Fujimi in old, almost-stock muscle cars” and they attached a video to that effect. So, some players are just doing their own thing regardless of the featured tours.
The overall emerging picture that comes from these responses is of a community that feels quite let down. They expected ongoing support with new content for Forza Motorsport, but instead, they are being given recycled events from just a couple of the very first months of the game. In combination with the never-ending technical problems that remain unresolved, it is basically a perfect storm causing player dissatisfaction.
It is probably good to mention the Forza official account did have a link to a post detailing more about these returning tours. So maybe it is not solely about the old content. It is just that, from the very first player reaction, this messaging has not gone down too well. The community was clearly hoping for something new and exciting, not a greatest hits collection of content they’ve already experienced.
So, the question on everybody’s minds: will Turn 10 Studios answer this call for change, or will this be the normal for Forza Motorsport updates moving forward? With players already shopping for Gran Turismo, and some even contemplating selling their Xbox consoles because of this, developers might want to rethink how they approach content updates or at least communicate clearly about what players should expect from here on out beside recycled events.
But, for now, the Forza community looks a bit gloomy. The announcement that was supposed to be about the great new content turned into more or less the cause for all player frustration on the direction the game is going and the technical issues that continue to linger. That’s… not exactly what Turn 10 wanted when they hit send on that tweet.
