History Trivia / Forza

** Most obviously against ''VideoGame/GranTurismo'' as a first-party UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars competitor, along with bouts against the ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'' franchise (especially both ''[=ProStreet=]'' and the two ''Shift'' games).

** In the case of the Xbox One, some people went as far as to say that the ''Forza'' games (especially the ''Horizon'' series) have become the console's saving grace in terms of console exclusives. By [[UsefulNotes/ElectronicEntertainmentExpo E3]] [[UsefulNotes/E3InThe2020s 2021]], ''Forza Horizon'' has garnered so much prestige that Microsoft saved the announcement of ''Forza Horizon 5'' as best for last for the Xbox and Creator/{{Bethesda}} Games Showcase,[[note]]ignoring ''VideoGame/{{Redfall}}'', which was a "One More Thing..."-style announcement, but that was announced with only a CG trailer, whereas ''Horizon 5'' was announced with gameplay footage[[/note]] and the live chat on Website/YouTube and Website/{{Twitch}} were ''demanding'' to see ''Horizon 5'' throughout the show. The fact that a racing game, a genre that typically doesn't garner as much hype as other video game genres unless it's pop-cultural juggernaut ''VideoGame/MarioKart'', was saved towards the end of an E3 press conference speaks ''volumes'' of how far the ''Forza Horizon'' series has come. By the time of its release, many gamers and critics called ''Forza Horizon 5'' the first genuine killer app of the Platform/XboxSeriesXAndS, which was proven when over one million players played the game ''during the time that it was only available for Premium Edition owners''[[note]]including Xbox Game Pass subscribers who bought the Premium Add-ons Bundle but not the base game[[/note]] and had over ''4.5 million'' players '''24 hours after the standard and deluxe edition release, the biggest-ever launch for an Creator/XboxGameStudios title'''. In a sense, it also was one for the Game Pass service, as ''Horizon 4'' launched there on the very same day you could buy it. ''Horizon 5'' followed suit by also being available on the service at launch.

** In the case of the Xbox One, some people went as far as to say that the ''Forza'' games (especially the ''Horizon'' series) have become the console's saving grace in terms of console exclusives. By [[UsefulNotes/ElectronicEntertainmentExpo E3]] [[UsefulNotes/E3InThe2020s 2021]], ''Forza Horizon'' has garnered so much prestige that Microsoft saved the announcement of ''Forza Horizon 5'' as best for last for the Xbox and Creator/{{Bethesda}} Games Showcase,[[note]]ignoring ''VideoGame/{{Redfall}}'', which was a "One More Thing..."-style announcement, but that was announced with only a CG trailer, whereas ''Horizon 5'' was announced with gameplay footage[[/note]] and the live chat on Website/YouTube and Website/{{Twitch}} were ''demanding'' to see ''Horizon 5'' throughout the show. The fact that a racing game, a genre that typically doesn't garner as much hype as other video game genres unless it's pop-cultural juggernaut ''VideoGame/MarioKart'', was saved towards the end of an E3 press conference speaks ''volumes'' of how far the ''Forza Horizon'' series has come. By the time of its release, many gamers and critics called ''Forza Horizon 5'' the first genuine killer app of the UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, which was proven when over one million players played the game ''during the time that it was only available for Premium Edition owners''[[note]]including Xbox Game Pass subscribers who bought the Premium Add-ons Bundle but not the base game[[/note]] and had over ''4.5 million'' players '''24 hours after the standard and deluxe edition release, the biggest-ever launch for an Creator/XboxGameStudios title'''. In a sense, it also was one for the Game Pass service, as ''Horizon 4'' launched there on the very same day you could buy it. ''Horizon 5'' followed suit by also being available on the service at launch.

** While ''Horizon 5'' does its best to emphasize its Mexican setting with several Mexican characters and a soundtrack containing several Mexican artists and tracks, including songs that are sung in only Spanish, there is ''still'' a British/European bias. The soundtrack still features a number of European and British acts, such as Music/DuaLipa with her hit song "Levitating" appearing on Horizon Pulse, the festival director is now the British Haley Jackson, some of ''Horizon 4''[='=]s characters--all Brits--return, Hospital Records is again the only record label-based radio station, and the game establishes that you the Player--the same Horizon superstar from ''Horizon 4''--is British, complete with the only two voice options for them being British voices.

* IKnewIt: The first half of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tUqIHwHDEc launch trailer]] for the Xbox Series X console, which was published in late 2019, showed off new weather rendering effects before being topped off with a Koenigsegg Regera tearing through a dusty desert road. Eagle-eyed viewers correlated the flora and terrain features in said half of said trailer with that of Mexico, leading to rumors that ''Horizon 5'' would be set in that country, and thus competing head-to-head with long-standing rumors of this then-upcoming entry being instead set in Japan. The Mexico crowd were proven right when on June 13, 2021, during Microsoft and Bethesda's [=E3=] livestream, ''Forza Horizon 5'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VU4hNi7F38 had its worldwide reveal]] in which Mexico was confirmed as the setting.

*** An early 2023 trailer showed off various drift cars that competed in the Formula Drift series, with one of these cars, Fredrick Aasbo's Toyota GR Supra, even being shown in an in-game menu screen in the final product. Formula Drift cars are not part of the Day-1 car roster, and neither is the Nissan [=GT-R=] [=GT500=] that the Supra is seen with in the same menu screen.

* SleeperHit: The ''Forza'' series has always sold well, but special mention should go to ''Horizon 3''. While many expected it to be just another ''Forza'' game, its highly positive critical reception gave it incredibly long legs when it came to sales. Over one year later and on the same week ''Motorsport 7'' came out, it was ''third'' on the UK game charts. Overall, it has only dropped out of the top 20 twice in its first year and has continued to have a solid performance since, which is no small feat especially when you consider that games within annual franchises typically have a short shelf life.