What you need to know
- Developed by Playground Games and published by Xbox Game Studios, Forza Horizon 4 was first launched in 2018 and was a huge success, receiving critical acclaim.
- Like previous Forza games, Forza Horizon 4 will reach End of Life status, meaning the game will be removed from digital stores and Xbox Game Pass on December 15, 2024.
- Anyone who purchases a digital or physical copy of Forza Horizon 4 will be able to continue playing the game even after it is removed from the range.
- Forza Horizon 4 is currently on sale for Windows PC players via Steam, and there will also be a sale on the Xbox Store on July 14, 2024.
A phenomenal game is coming to stores later this year.
Forza Horizon 4 is scheduled to be removed from the Xbox Store and Steam on December 14, 2024. It will also be removed from Xbox Game Pass, Playground Games, and Xbox Shared at that time on Tuesday. As with previous Forza games that have been removed from the lineup, this is due to licensing agreements with various partners whose support the game required, as far as the inclusion of music tracks and certain cars.
Anyone who has purchased Forza Horizon 4 (digitally or physically) will be able to continue playing the game after it is removed. Various discounts will be available in the lead up to the game’s removal, giving players the opportunity to purchase Forza Horizon 4 at a heavily discounted price before it is no longer available. A Steam sale is currently live, while an Xbox sale will be available on July 14, 2024.
Additionally, anyone who played Forza Horizon 4 through Xbox Game Pass and purchased some DLC and subscribed to the service today will receive a game code via their Xbox Messages in the coming weeks.
Can you still play Forza Horizon 4 in multiplayer mode?
Yes, Forza Horizon 4 will still be playable online with full multiplayer functionality after it is removed from the game. While it’s possible that the game servers will be shut down at some point, that won’t be the case for a while.
However, it is important to note that Series 77, which begins on July 25th, will be the last Festival Playlist. Once it ends on August 22nd, there will be no more Festival Playlist. This means that Series 77 is your last chance to earn the following achievements: A creature of habit, Stunt Puller, RedeemAnd perfectionist.
Forza Horizon is one of the biggest brands for Xbox
Originally developed by Playground Games as a spin-off of the main Forza Motorsport series, Forza Horizon quickly became a behemoth for Xbox, with Playground Games and Turn 10 working together on the ForzaTech engine to power both series. This engine will also be used for the Fable reboot, which is being developed by a second studio at Playground Games and is set to launch in 2025.
Each Forza Horizon game has received critical acclaim with incredible regularity and reliability, with Forza Horizon 4 reaching 24 million players by November 2020. Its successor, Forza Horizon 5, launched in 2021 and reached over 34 million players a few months ago, player numbers that cement Forza Horizon as one of the biggest Xbox brands.
Since Forza Horizon 5 is a much newer game, it is still available for purchase and is also available on Xbox Game Pass.
Analysis: A Titan goes to sleep
Forza Horizon 4 is a fantastic game, one of my favorite games of 2018. While it’s a little sad to see it finally being discontinued, this is nothing new with Forza games due to the licensing agreements that come with these titles. Thankfully, players know well in advance when the game will no longer be available, so if anyone hasn’t bought it yet, now is the time to make sure they can keep it forever.
In our review of Forza Horizon 4, my colleague Richard Devine wrote: “As it stands today, Forza Horizon 4 is the best racing game you can get for the Xbox One. As always, it doesn’t try to be a simulator, but the combination of real vehicles, not-so-arcade physics and a big, open playground of entertainment is hard to beat.”