Turn 10 Studios’ Forza Motorsport is shaping up to be one of the best Xbox racing games we’ve ever seen, but there are some things you should know before the Forza Motorsport release date rolls around. One of the most important things you should know about is in regards to AI cars in Forza Motorsport at launch. To put it plainly, much like PlayStation’s exclusive racing game Gran Turismo 7, there won’t be any Forza Motorsport bots in multiplayer at launch. So, if your lobbies aren’t full, you’re going to have a lacklustre racing experience.
Discussing the multiplayer being presented to players in Forza Motorsport with Forza Monthly podcast host Leah ‘Leahviathan’ Alexandra ahead of the arrival of Forza Motorsport on Xbox Game Pass, creative director Chris Esaki explains that a number of features you would expect to see in Forza Motorsport simply won’t be available at launch. This includes AI-controlled bots in multiplayer, Spectate Mode, and split-screen.
“The competitive racing that we wanted to have in featured multiplayer – with full fields for great racing – unfortunately means our Spectate Mode is not [available] for launch”, Esaki reveals. “Similarly, racing with AI in featured multiplayer – with all its potential impacts on your Safety Rating – also didn’t make a whole lot of sense to have and is not going to be available for us at launch.”
Esaki also added that splitscreen multiplayer is not going to be available in Forza Motorsport at launch, due to Turn 10 Studios’ “heavy investment in pushing [its] new graphical features” and it’s overhauled rendering engine. We know this lack of Forza Motorsport split-screen is going to frustrate a lot of fans out there, but Esaki doesn’t rule it out completely. So, we could see this feature appear in Forza Motorsport in the future – if we’re lucky. The same goes for the AI-controlled bots in multiplayer, although that seems less likely given Esaki’s comments.
You can check this all out at the 24-minute mark of the video below:
In the meantime, you might just have to check out one of the other best racing games for split-screen features. You could also look into playing some of the best Xbox co-op games out there, if you’re looking for something a little more collaborative.
You can play Forza Motorsport for just $1 when it drops, but not for as long as you might like. This is looking like one of the best Xbox Game Pass games of the year; so, you might want to look into picking up one of the best Xbox expansion cards before it drops. With a wonderful selection of Forza Motorsport cars already confirmed and a decent selection of Forza Motorsport tracks expected, burning rubber on Xbox is never going to be better. You’re just going to need to hope the matchmaking system works well.