Forza Motorsport 8: Everything you need to know

Move over Forza Horizon 4, Forza Motorsport 8 is gaining traction. Here’s what we know, including details of the physics changes, ray tracing graphics and why you should expect something different.

Forza Horizon 4 was the last game from Turn 10 Studios and so anyone who guessed Forza Motorsport 8 would be next deserves a cookie. It may end up with a different name, but the game’s existence has been officially confirmed. In fact, it’s already playable.

So what exactly do we know about Forza Motorsport 8 at the time of making this article? Quite a lot, actually, and at least one bit may surprise you. But before that, be sure to check out my YouTube channel and, if you’re feeling generous, support the Tribe on Patreon.

Forza Motorsport 8: What can we play it on?

PC and Xbox, as you would expect from a Microsoft franchise. Forza Motorsport 8 is also most likely going to be an Xbox Series X game. In case you’re wondering, that’s the latest generation Xbox that was previously known as ‘Project Scarlett’ during development.

What about the Xbox One, Xbox One S and Xbox One X? Fear not, Microsoft’s transition from hardware to software means Forza Motorsport 8 is likely to run on everything. Well, maybe not the 360 or the original Xbox. It’s just that the visuals will be scaled down to accommodate the reduction in processing muscle.

So the graphics will be better?

Until the official unveiling, there is a lot of mystery surrounding the Xbox Series X. But Microsoft has said the new console will be “four times” more powerful than the Xbox One X. A bold statement when you consider the Xbox Series X’s predecessor can do intensive 4K graphics.

Ray tracing is the headline feature, a system that makes lighting more realistic because it reacts to the surfaces around it. Because this is a processor-intensive task, you need a more powerful CPU and graphics card, which is obviously what the Xbox Series X will be. Otherwise what’s the point?

So how do we know Forza Motorsport 8 will feature ray tracing? Because there’s going to be a talk by none other than Turn 10 Studios at the 2020 Game Developers Conference (GDC), which runs from the 16th to the 20th of March. The subject? Ray tracing.

Obviously, to teach other developers about a graphics feature requires decent levels of knowhow to implement and that only comes from practice. It’s hardly a big leap to assume Turn 10 Studios got that experience from working on Forza Motorsport 8.

Will Forza Motorsport 8 be different?

One would assume motorsport is still a thing in that you drive cars around circuits. But Turn 10 Studios has hinted you should expect something “vastly different” from previous games.

Speaking to GamesRadar, Turn 10 Studios creative director Chris Esaki said that the development team had already witnessed its first “studio-wide playtest’.

He added: “It’s been this hard road to get where we are today… I’m just going to rattle off a bunch of features because in reality they don’t really matter in the larger scheme of things.

“The overall product and where we’re going with it is so vastly different and an amazing experience that these things are just so low-level… But the people out there, I think will be interested in hearing some of those things.”

Esaki speficially mentions a new tyre pressure model, which takes into account dynamic track temperatures, air density and atmospheric pressure (something that was added to Project Gotham Racing 2). He also lists a new suspension system with new suspension modelling, so expect more realism.

“These are just a ton of things under the hood here,” Esaki continued, “and I’m missing about 15 other things that are all just under the hood.”

What else do we know about Forza Motorsport 8?

Right now, that’s it, and I doubt there will be much more to go on until we draw closer to its release date. More on this topic in a second. But it’s thought that there could be an open-world element. If true, to what extent is the million-pound/dollar question.

An educated guess would suggest Forza Motorsport 8 will go much deeper when it comes to realism, giving it more of an edge against the likes of Project Cars 2 and iRacing. Especially as Forza Horizon 4 continues to fly the flag for arcadey racing, but also because of the increase in popularity of simulator racing.

It also appears rallycross has been added, assuming a quick glimpse of a rally Honda Civic during in a recent a Turn 10 Studios tour is anything to go by. Watch out, DiRT Rally 2.0.

So when is the Forza Motorsport 8 release date?

The Forza games are a huge deal for Microsoft and have been used to showcase the console in the past. So it would make sense that Forza Motorsport 8 will launch when the Xbox Series X does, but just after could also be possible.

When is the Xbox Series X release date, you ask? Winter 2020 is the vague answer, which means Santa could, in theory, deliver one down your chimney (not a euphemism). Same as the PlayStation 5 so expected those annoying heated console war debates.

Based on the Xbox One X’s release date and the fact it’s best to launch in the build-up to Christmas, November seems most likely. Other games likely to be at launch include Halo Infinite, Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok and Fable 4.

But there’s a catch. The Coronavirus is causing big problems around the world, especially parts of Asia, which some analysts believe could push the release date back. Missing Christmas would of course be a nightmare, so this will be a last resort.

It’s worth noting that deliberately limiting stock is a trick used by a lot of tech companies (*cough* Apple), so it may just be more difficult to get an Xbox Series X from day one as opposed to seeing a later release date.

When will we know more?

Microsoft confirmed it’s at E3 in 2020 so expect more information about the next Forza game and the next Xbox around this time. Put the 9th to the 11th of June 2020 in your calendar.

As new details emerge, expect A Tribe Called Cars to update this very article. So give it a bookmark and visit again soon for all the latest information. In the meantime, check out all my Forza Horizon 4 content.