Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 5 is a racing video game set in an open world environment based in a fictional representation of Mexico.The game has the largest map in the entire Forza Horizon series, being 50% larger than its predecessor, Forza Horizon 4, while also having the highest point in the Horizon series. The map was described by creative director Mike Brown as one of the most diverse Forza Horizon maps the team has built.The map contains an active caldera volcano, jungles and beaches, ancient Mayan temples, and towns and cities such as Guanajuato. Players can explore the open world freely, though they can also compete in multiplayer races and complete the campaign mode. Both the cars featured in the game and the player character can be extensively customised.
Forza Horizon 5 also introduces a brand new Horizon Arcade. This consists of a series of mini-multiplayer games strewn across the map. One of these mini-multiplayer games is called “Piñata pop” where the Horizon Festival’s cargo plane drops piñatas. The goal is to pop as many piñatas as they can with the help of other players. It also introduces the “EventLab”, a toolset in which players can create custom games, races, and more depending on their personal preference.

Forza Horizon 5 has seen many content updates and bug fixes since its release. Monthly content updates include new cars, collectibles, horns, clothing, etc. These updates typically have a specific theme; for example, the Series 2 update in December 2021 was based around Christmas. Many updates also include series-specific map changes, for example, the Series 5 update introduced a stunt park located in the stadium on the map. This game is the first in the franchise to introduce new map changes, aside from seasons.
The Series 13 update, released on 11 October 2022, celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Forza Horizon series, adding new content to the game in celebration.This included a new radio station titled “Horizon Mixtape”, featuring a total of fifteen music tracks from the previous four entries (six tracks available from the start, five unlockable tracks via accolades by completing each chapter of the Horizon Story “Horizon Origins”, and four tracks unlockable via completing limited-time seasonal championships in the Festival Playlist) along with recreations of key moments of the five games’ initial drive sequences in the new Horizon Story “Horizon Origins”—with Horizon Bass Arena DJ and Horizon Mixtape host Scott Tyler (voiced by Ronan Summers), the only Forza Horizon series character to have appeared in every game so far, joining the player—the return of Midnight Battles from Forza Horizon 3, and new achievements, accolades, and badges. Each of the previous four entries’ title screens was also recreated by Playground Games within the game world of Forza Horizon 5, with each season (week) of Series 13 using a recreated title screen corresponding to a different game; Forza Horizon in summer, Forza Horizon 2 in autumn, Forza Horizon 3 in winter, and Forza Horizon 4 in spring.

Forza Horizon 5 was developed by Playground Games. The goal for the team was to create a game whose scale was significantly larger than its predecessors. The team chose Mexico as the game’s setting due to its diverse and varied landscape. The team partnered with Mexican artists to create the in-game murals, and Mexican musicians to create the in-game soundtracks. It also sent a team to visit Mexico to capture real-world light and sky data. The game utilised photogrammetry data extensively in order to make the game’s virtual environment to look similar to its real-life counterpart.Playground Games took a new approach to car audio in Horizon 5, switching implementation from looping to granular synthesis. To prepare audio recordings for this, they captured cars performing full acceleration sweeps from idle to redline and then let the cars slow to a stop. Microphones with flat frequency responses were selected, and padded to prevent damage and clipping from loud exhausts. Cockpit noise was recorded with both stereo and ambisonic microphones mounted centrally in the car. The team, with assistance from audio outsourcing companies, recorded 320 engines for the game, some samples usable for multiple cars that share engines. Additional recording included ambient environments and collisions. All sounds were recorded just for the game, with none sourced from existing libraries. The soundtrack can be output through Dolby Atmos.