What you need to know
- The next Forza Horizon 5 update, Series 20, will officially begin on Thursday, April 27, 2023.
- Ahead of its debut, Playground Games has detailed what players can expect from the “High Performance” update.
- Finally, Forza Horizon 5 will have a dedicated stadium oval track.
- Four highly requested cars also join the car list, including the 2021 Porsche Mission R.
Forza Horizon 5 is officially coming to a series of updates with the arrival of Series 20 “High Performance”, which looks to be an exciting launch for fans of high-speed road racing and high-end sports cars. The upcoming update includes some quality of life improvements, as well as some highly requested features and cars.
We’re not beating around the bush: Here’s what’s coming in the Forza Horizon 5 Series 20 “High Performance” update:
- A real oval circuit. Forza Horizon 5’s stadium in the center of the map is getting one of its biggest overhauls yet. Finally, FH5 players will be able to race around a legitimate oval track in their fastest vehicles, competing against other players for the best lap times.
- The Horizon Oval Circuit is the real deal, with stands and crowds
- The oval racetrack will take over the Stadium for the duration of the Freeroam Series
- When the Series ends, the Stadium will return, but the Oval Horizon Circuit will be permanently added to the game as a Race Track.
- It can also be used as a starting point for EventLab plans and events
- new cars Forza Horizon 5 Series 20 will feature four additions to the Forza Horizon 5 car roster, with some highly requested vehicles including:
- 2019 Porsche Motorsport 935 #70
- Lamborghini Hurricane STO 2020
- Audi RS 6 Avant 2021
- 2021 Porsche Mission R
- A new festival playlist. Of course, as with every update to the Forza Horizon 5 series, Series 20 includes a new festival playlist. 6 Evolving World PR Stunts return during this festival playlist, there will be a new collectible piñata helmet, and players can earn new cosmetics and phrases throughout the festival playlist.
- New recognitions and badges. Finishers can chase 20 new accolades centered around the Oval Horizon Circuit and the 20 Series, and can also add three new badges focused on collecting as many unique vehicles as possible.
- Quality of life improvements and bug fixes. This update is full of new improvements and general fixes for Forza Horizon 5, with some of them guaranteed to make many players happy. One such issue (regarding the control map) was a concern I raised in my Forza Horizon 5 review almost a year and a half ago. Some of the highlights include:
- Prosthetics and hearing aids can now automatically adjust to your character’s skin tone
- Removed the requirements to link ANNA and Forza LINK to the D-Pad with custom controller profiles
- Fixed a bug that caused roads not to appear as discovered on the map
- The HUD now better supports ultrawide screens on Xbox
Forza Horizon 5 players don’t have to wait long to get their hands on new features and content from Series 20 “High Performance.” The Festival Playlist and Evolving World will begin on Thursday, April 27, 2023, but the accompanying update should arrive earlier (usually the Tuesday before) on all platforms. This means the end of the extended night hours of Forza Horizon 5 Series 19 “Midnights at Horizon”, but new content is just around the corner.
Forza Horizon 5 has long been one of the best Xbox racing games you can play, and it keeps getting better with every update. In case you missed it, Forza Horizon 5: Rally Adventure recently launched with tons of fresh content for players to explore, fulfilling Playground Games’ promise to release two DLC expansions for the game during its lifetime. However, FH5 is far from over, as it will undoubtedly get much more iterative series updates moving forward.
The take of Windows Central
Forza Horizon 5 has been looking good with the latest updates, and the 20 Series “High Performance” is no exception. The Horizon Oval Circuit in particular is something players have been asking for since the game launched, so it’s great to finally see it added. I wish it could be made a permanent addition to the map, but that would mean sacrificing the stadium and gameplays may have other plans for the future. Still, at least it will always be available as a race track, which should make players happy.
It will be interesting to see how Forza Horizon 5 continues to keep players interested in continuing, now that the two DLC expansions have been released. How long will we continue to see new cars being added to the game? Either way, post-launch support for the game has been very strong and the car list continues to expand at a healthy rate. It looks like Forza Horizon 5 is in pretty good shape right now.
Forza Horizon 5 is included in every tier of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, making the epic gaming subscription the best way to race in Mexico alongside industry-leading visuals and hundreds of cool cars. You also get a discount on DLC like the new Rally Adventure expansion.
