Forza Motorsport

Forza Motorsport (Italian for "Force", commonly referred to as Forza) is a popular and critically acclaimed series of racing simulation video games for the Xbox and Xbox 360 developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by Microsoft Studios.

Forza seeks to emulate the performance and handling characteristics of a large number of real-life production, modified and racing cars. Forza is often seen as Microsoft's answer to Gran Turismo for the PlayStation systems.

As of February 2013, the Forza games have sold over 10 million copies since the release of Forza Motorsport in May 2005.

Forza Motorsport (2005)
Forza Motorsport was released in 2005 and is the first installment in the Forza Motorsport series, a series that has continued on Microsoft's current console, the Xbox 360.

Forza Motorsport 2 (2007)
Forza Motorsport 2 is a realistic racing simulator on the Xbox 360, the sequel to Forza Motorsport which was released for the Xbox in 2005. The Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel was developed alongside Forza Motorsport 2 and is designed to work with the game

Forza Motorsport 3 (2009)
The game includes more than 400 customizable cars (More than 500 cars in the Ultimate Collection version) from 50 manufacturers and more than 100 race track variations with the ability to race up to eight cars on track at a time. These cars vary from production cars to race cars such as those from the American Le Mans Series.

The cover art features a North American spec Audi R8, and is the first time the featured car is not a racing or tuned car.

Forza Motorsport 4 (2011)
Forza Motorsport 4 is a racing video game, and the fourth in the Forza Motorsport series. Like Sony's Gran Turismo franchise, Forza games are racing simulations; heavy emphasis is placed on making the cars drive and look as realistic as possible. Races are conducted on closed circuit tracks. 500 cars are featured in the core game experience, ranging from road cars to race cars.

Forza Motorsport 5 (2013)
Forza Motorsport 5 is a simulation racing video game, the fifth in the Motorsport series, and the sixth game in the Forza series. The game was first confirmed by the Sebull of Microsoft France. The game was released on November 22, 2013, exclusively for Xbox One.

Forza Horizon (2012)
Forza Horizon is the first open-road spin off game based around a fictitious festival called the Horizon, set in Colorado, USA. The game incorporates many different gameplay aspects from previous Forza Motorsport titles, like the large variety of cars, realistic physics and high definition graphics. The aim is to progress through the game by means of obtaining "Wristbands" by driving fast, destroying property, winning races and other driving antics. Horizon is set to feature the physics of Forza Motorsport 4, which have been optimised to work on the 65 variants of terrain said to be present in the game. Players can drive off-road in select areas, while others are limited by guardrails or other means.

Forza allows the player to "mod up" the car that is selected from the garage by changing numerous features both internally and externally on a car. One can also obtain cars by winning races with random drivers on the street, by winning larger competitive races, and by finding sheds that contain treasure cars.

Future
By handing the development of Horizon to "Playground Games"–a developer composed of talents from a range of studios: TOCA, GRID, Codemasters–it seems that Microsoft aims to have a new Forza title released every year, "without making the sacrifices that are commonly seen in yearly franchises handled by one developer. It also seems that the Forza Horizon and Forza Motorsport series will continue as a bi-yearly series, meaning that if a Forza Horizon game comes out, then the next year, a Forza Motorsport game will come out, and then a Horizon game next year, and so on.”