Forza Studio Playground Games is saying that their push towards cross-gen did not need any extra effort, mostly due to the company’s experience with the PC.
The Forza studio, Playground, are the devs behind the quintessential racing game Forza Horizon 5. They note how thankful they are with their PC dev experience. With such experience, it makes their move towards making their game cross-gen easier.
Horizon 5 will even support older Xbox console
In the latest E3, Playground Games revealed that a new Forza game is on its way. Horizon 5 is coming around the end of this year, and the stakes are bigger than ever. Offering some of the most realistic graphics for racing games, the game will now go cross-gen.
Forza Horizon 5 will be available on the Xbox consoles and the PC. Rather than a delayed release for the PC, the company will now simultaneously release on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and the PC.
According to designer Mike Brown, the cross-gen move required little to no effort. He attributes this to their expansive experience with PC since Forza Horizon 3.
“Since Horizon 3, we have already been on PC, and that means that we’re already used to delivering a game on a whole range of system specifications,” notes Brown in an interview with Eurogamer.
“So having to have the game work on Xbox One, Xbox Series consoles, PC, it isn’t that different. I think having to support the Xbox One consoles is exactly the same amount of effort as it is to support a lower spec PC. We’re actually feeling pretty great about all versions of the game, to be honest.”
Lack of PC experience is pitfall for many devs
From what it seems, Forza studio Playground is very happy about their experience on the PC. Many AAA devs had a problem transitioning to next-gen, mostly due to their console-only experience. This is prevalent with recently released titles, especially from Japanese studios.
Among those companies, Koei Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden Master Collection received a wide panning from their less than basic PC title. The same goes for the recent PC releases of No More Heroes 1 and 2, which had zero keyboard support.
This comes from their lack of experience with the PC marketplace as a whole. Experience with the discerning PC crowd takes more than simple ports.
Some companies are also skipping the previous-gen consoles and pushing towards next-gen. Playground Games is doing its best to carry as much of its audience with it as possible. With seamless cross-gen, this Forza studio should be able to make an even better racing title.
Featured image courtesy of Xbox/Youtube Screenshot