Forza Horizon 5 will soon play host to the climate-awareness electric odyssey that is Extreme E. The real-world motorsport has been used in an image to tease the upcoming Forza Monthly stream, which will reveal the contents of the game’s Series 10 Festival Playlist.
The game is set in a varied open-world Mexican environment, with the Dunas Blancas sandy region on the west cost ideal for some dune-buggy-inspired racing. However, Extreme E doesn’t always visit dry, sandy places, with last season’s Arctic and Jurassic X-Prix’s set in cooler muddy conditions – so the cars should be well suited to all areas of the map.
What’s not clear at this stage is if there will be any specific Extreme E challenges or stories to go with the new vehicles.
The models on display in the image are, for the most part, the current 2022 season designs. Front and centre is the Rosberg X Racing entry of reigning champion Johan Kristoffersson, paired up this season with fellow Swede Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky.
Front left is the Acciona | Sainz XE Team entry of two-time World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz and 14-time Women’s Trial World Champion Laia Sanz. The Orange car is a new team for this season, McLaren. Leaping at the back left is the Veloce Racing car and back right is the JBXE team.
In the middle, however, is the Genesys Andretti United Extreme E team. In the real world, this entry has unique bodywork to match the road-going Hummer EV truck, but it’s notable only by its absence here. The team took its first Extreme E victory during the Island X-Prix earlier this month.
Also missing is the Abt Cupra XE vehicle, which also runs its own customised bodywork. This hints at a potential licencing challenge when it comes to anything other than the base model ODYSSEY 21 car.
Xite Energy Racing, Genesys Andretti United Extreme E and the Lewis Hamilton and Prodrive collaboration Team X44 teams are absent at this point, with more details expected soon.
All Extreme E machines are powered by the same 54kWh battery, using Continental tyres and a CBMM | Niobium developed chassis.
This isn’t the first time officially licenced content has been available within Forza Horizon 5, with the paid Car Pass, for example, including several Formula DRIFT cars. Fellow electric motorsport series Formula E is within Real Racing 3 on mobile and has rFactor 2 the official simulator of the championship.
The FIA ETCR – eTouring Car World Cup is yet to appear in gaming as a championship, but the Cupra Leon E-Racer model is available for RaceRoom Racing Experience.
The full reveal will be on the Forza Twitch and YouTube Channels, 18th July at 9 am PDT. That’s one day ahead of the Hot Wheels Expansion launch.
Images: Motorsport Images
