Back in May, when the Forza Motorsport name was confirmed alongside the new tire physics, we were promised an update following the next community play test.
After that second play test took place on 14th August, more detailed feedback was gathered by the developers, this time focusing on the multiplayer aspect of the game. Now we have an update all about the multiplayer features coming for the new game.
Previous games would mainly focus on hoppers, a.k.a. quick races with just a race lobby. Those often had no consequence or ability to learn before being thrown into the deep end, and no rank advancement either. That was ruled out, and may still be an option for the sim racer with little time to play, but the Forza Motorsport reboot will introduce a multiplayer mode that includes more than just a race.
The Turn 10 Studios team is focusing now on a “deeper, more authentic” multiplayer experience. The goal is for players to grow their skills alongside peers. Some live events will now feature open practice, qualifying, and a feature race.
“Totally think of it as a race weekend,” said Chris Esaki, Creative Director at Turn 10 Studios during the Forza Monthly stream for September. The structure and timing is still in the works, but they are taking all of the feedback from the community play test last month to really dial in the right flow.
There will also be an introduction of a “corner system” which relays back, on a per-corner basis, where you can pick up time during open practice sessions. “This is a much more granular system,” Esaki said. It is said to identify different types of corners which players should practice more to get better overall, as opposed to an entire sector or lap. Players will also be able to compete and compare corner scores against one another.
Finally, the endurance side of the upcoming game will be doubled down upon due to the tire updates detailed a few months ago. Players in the play test were able to participate in an endurance series event while the test was open. A long form practice was kept open where players could join, leave, do other things, and return back to the endurance server before the race event took place.
The next play test will be actively adding more people to it, but the date of it hasn’t been announced. Esaki says to expect more on that in the next couple of months as well as directions on how to get involved. We’ll expect another update on things from him around that time as well. Check out the full Forza Monthly stream embedded below as we’ve now written three articles about it this week, all three about different Forza games.
Let us know your thoughts as well in the comments below.
