On Tuesday, June 25, 2024, Playground Games announced that “due to licensing and agreements” with their partners, they are forced to delist Forza Horizon 4 from digital platforms—namely Microsoft Store and Steam. The plug will be pulled on December 15, 2024.
The implication of the announcement is that after the December deadline, players will not be able to purchase the game through digital stores. The developer also announced that the final series for Forza Horizon 4 would be Series 77 which will start on July 25 and end on August 22.
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“On December 15, Forza Horizon 4 will be delisted from stores and Xbox Game Pass,” said the developer. “This means the game and its additional content will no longer be available for purchase.”
“Players who already own the game and its content will be able to download and play it as normal, including its offline, online, and multiplayer features; physical copies of the game purchased after this date will also work and will be able to use online features.”
Attention Forza Horizon 4 players!
We have an important announcement regarding how FH4’s Festival Playlist will work after Series 77 (from July 25 until August 22) and its availability in digital stores after December 15.
Please, read the complete update here:… pic.twitter.com/sFrZU5sjOq
— Forza Horizon (@ForzaHorizon) June 25, 2024
Forza Horizon 4 is an open-world racing sim originally released in October 2018. Playground Games continued to refresh the game with new cars and events. The nature of the licensing and agreement that led to the decision to delist the game was not highlighted. However, some reporters guessed that it may be related to in-game music and car brands.
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Although the delisting of the base game is still months away, its DLCs (Lego Speed Champions and Fortune Island) have already been removed. The only way new players can experience the DLCs is by purchasing the game’s Ultimate Edition.
Players are enjoying a last ride in Forza Horizon 4
Soon after the Forza Horizon 4 delisting announcement, the game recorded a spike in the number of concurrent players, surpassing its previous concurrent player all-time high on Steam. At the time of writing, the game’s all-time high concurrent players was 71,598 according to SteamDB—and that record was achieved on Thursday, June 27, 2024, a day after the delisting announcement.
The previous peak player count recorded by the game was in 2021 when it pulled in 40,399 concurrent players. Our guess is that not only are old players returning to the game but also new players are taking a bite of it before it is removed from digital storefronts.
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Another factor that might have helped to boost the player numbers of the game is that it is currently being sold at an 80% discount on Steam. For many, that is far cheaper than trying to get the game’s physical copies—which will be the only way it would be playable after the December deadline.
The announcement of Forza Horizon 4 delisting from digital storefronts raises fresh concerns about video game preservation and whether it is safe to store games in digital libraries.
By the way, in what form do you prefer your games, digital or physical? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
