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Forza Motosport 6 Debuts With Ford's New GT Supercar
Ford's new GT supercar – announced today to much fanfare at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit – will be the cover car for Microsoft's Forza Motorsport 6 on Xbox One.
The Ford GT has a new twin-turbocharged V6 engine capable of more than 600 horsepower. In other aspects of interest to gamers, the GT has a mid-mounted engine and is a rear-wheel drive vehicle.
The GT imprint has historical importance for Ford and in the racing world, and this new GT celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the GT's 1-2-3 finish in the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
The supercar isn't the only upcoming Ford vehicle that will appear in Forza 6. The Shelby GT350 Mustang and F-150 Raptor, which also debuted at the auto show, are going in the game, and there will be other cars from among the group of 11 performance vehicles at the show in Forza 6.
The GT itself will hit select markets late next year, and although the game itself will appear before then (likely this year, although Microsoft hasn't announced a release date), Dan Greenawalt, creative director at Forza series developer Turn 10, says that gameplay will be revealed at E3 in June. Furthermore, the team at Turn 10 will be in contact with the group at Ford to make sure that the specs of the cars are up to date.
Despite the fanfare of this deal, Greenawalt says he doesn't know if there are any exclusivity windows in place between Microsoft and Ford regarding the vehicles, and while the GT will be "first drivable" in Forza 6, he's not really interested in exclusivity deals per se. "Exclusivity, in our view, is not necessarily good for fans of cars and fans of racing because it takes cars out of people's hands. Ultimately our vision for Forza and for Turn 10 – our mission – is to get people excited about cars."
In a similar manner, while there are plenty of opportunities to highlight this partnership in the game and outside of it, Greenawalt says that the game's focus will remain on the cars. Thus, he seemed to be reluctant when it comes to issues like Ford-related in-game advertising and microtransactions. "Our role in this industry is a simulator. We don't pick sides. So, while we can be a great way of showcasing a car...we're also not going to pull any favors. We are excited about the car, but it's not the sort of thing where we'd really put advertising one way or the other, that's just not how we've done it."
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