Media preservation has been having a rough couple of years lately. Streaming services drop things without offering any physical media options, video games are making the shift to completely digital libraries or consoles, and some games just aren’t being sold anymore. A fate that will soon befall Forza Horizon 4, which will no longer be available for purchase, or on Gamepass, as of December 15th. The game will apparently be pulled from services due to licensing agreements. According to developers at Playground Games:
Due to licensing and agreements with our partners, Forza Horizon 4 will be delisted from digital platforms (Microsoft Store and Steam) on December 15, 2024. This means the game and its additional content will no longer be available for purchase through online stores.
Forza Horizon 4 has been going since 2018, and its successor Forza Horizon 5’s release in 2021 did not necessarily dull the love that 4 had from fans. Since then, no mention has been made of Forza Horizon 6 having any appearance, and based on the lessons that Microsoft and Playground Games are learning with 4, that might be a good thing.
The license agreements seem to be a result of the game’s use of 750 accurate recreations of car models from a whole host of brands. It seems that such an agreement has reached the end of its course, and any attempts to alter or extend it have not succeeded. Some are already commenting on that way this licensing agreement feels like it was made without the forethought to skirt this issue. That being said, those same voices are also providing possible interim, permanent, and ideal solutions. Hopefully, if Forza Horizon 6 gets made any such licensing agreements will allow the game to exist well into the future. It only makes me wonder if Forza Horizon 5 will also face similar issues in circa 2027.