What you need to know
- The next Forza Horizon 5 update, Series 20, officially kicks off 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 is going to get a dedicated oval racetrack at the stadium.
- Four highly requested cars are also joining the car list, including the 2021 Porsche Mission R.
Forza Horizon 5 is officially at a score of updates with the arrival of Series 20 "High Performance," which looks to be an exciting release for fans of high-speed road racing and high-end sports cars. The upcoming update features some great quality-of-life improvements in addition to some highly requested features and cars.
Let's not beat around the bush — Here's what's coming in the Forza Horizon 5 Series 20 "High Performance" update:
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A proper oval racetrack. Forza Horizon 5's Stadium at 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 racetrack in their fastest vehicles, competing against other players for the best lap times.
- The Horizon Oval Circuit is the real deal, complete with stands and crowds
- The oval racetrack will take over the Stadium for the entire duration of the Series in Freeroam
- After the Series is over, the Stadium will return, but the Horizon Oval Circuit will be permanently added to the game as a Race Route
- It'll also be useable as a starting point for EventLab Blueprints and Events
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New cars. Forza Horizon 5 Series 20 will feature four additions to the Forza Horizon 5 car list, with some highly requested vehicles, including:
- 2019 Porsche Motorsport 935 #70
- 2020 Lamborghini Huracán STO
- 2021 Audi RS 6 Avant
- 2021 Porsche Mission R
- A new Festival Playlist. Of course, as with every Forza Horizon 5 Series update, Series 20 comes with a new Festival Playlist. 6 Evolving World PR Stunts are returning during this Festival Playlist, there will be a new Piñata Helmet Collectible, and players will be able to earn new cosmetics and phrases throughout the Festival Playlist.
- New Accolades and Badges. Completionists can pursue 20 new Accolades centered around the Horizon Oval Circuit and Series 20, and can also add three new Badges centered around collecting as many unique vehicles as possible.
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Quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes. This update is packed with new improvements and general fixes for Forza Horizon 5, with some of these guaranteed to make a lot of players happy. One of these issues (regarding control mapping), was a concern I brought up in my Forza Horizon 5 review nearly a year and a half ago. Some of the highlights include:
- Prosthetics and hearing aids can now automatically adapt to your character's skin tone
- Requirements to bind ANNA and Forza LINK to the D-Pad with custom controller profiles have been removed
- A bug causing roads to not appear as discovered on the map has been fixed
- The HUD now better supports ultrawide displays on Xbox
Forza Horizon 5 players don't have to wait long to get their hands on the new features and content in Series 20 "High Performance." The Festival Playlist and Evolving World will begin on Thursday, April 27, 2023, but the accompanying update should arrive before then (usually the Tuesday before) on every platform. This does mean an end to the extended night times of Forza Horizon 5 Series 19 "Midnights at Horizon," but new content is right around the corner.
Forza Horizon 5 has long been one of the best Xbox racing games you can play, and it continues to get better with every update. In case you missed it, Forza Horizon 5: Rally Adventure recently released with a ton of fresh content for players to explore, fulfilling Playground Games' promise to release two DLC expansions for the game during its lifetime. FH5 isn't done, however, as it'll undoubtedly get a lot more iterative Series updates moving forward.
Windows Central's take
Forza Horizon 5 has been looking good with the last few updates, and Series 20 "High Performance" is no exception. The Horizon Oval Circuit, particularly, is something players have been requesting 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 Playground Games may have other plans for it in the future. Still, at least it'll always be available as a racetrack, which should make players happy.
It'll be interesting to see how Forza Horizon 5 continues to keep players interested moving forward, now that both DLC expansions are released. How long will we continue to see new cars be added to the game? Either way, the game's post-launch support has been very strong, and the car list continues to expand at a healthy pace. It seems Forza Horizon 5 is in very 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 into Mexico alongside industry-leading visuals and hundreds of awesome cars. You also get a discount on DLC like the new Rally Adventure expansion.
