Forza 6 (Xbox One/Win10) - Apex Premium Edition out now (p13)

With its retro-futuristic lines and performance that will take you from zero to "whoa" in a handful of seconds, the Chryslus Rocket '69 is a unique addition to any car collection featuring a custom Forzavista experience that details its history and lets players check out its features in astonishing detail.

Codes for the Chryslus Rocket '69 are being sent via Xbox Live messages to those who have played either Forza Motorsport or Fallout 4 on Xbox One. Microsoft's sending millions of codes out, so it may take up to seven days for them to arrive. If you buy either game between 14th April and the end of the month, you'll get your code early May.

Forza Motorsport 6: Apex Open Beta

A new era for the Forza Motorsport series begins on May 5 with the release of the open beta for Forza Motorsport 6: Apex.Crafted specifically for Windows 10, Apex represents the critical first step in the future of the Forza franchise as it expands into Windows 10 PCs. Apex combines the power and performance of DirectX 12 with Turn 10’s racing expertise, our proprietary ForzaTech™ engine, and Forza’s legacy of stellar content. Most importantly, Forza Motorsport 6: Apex is our way to introduce Forza’s award-winning gameplay to a new audience on Windows 10 and invite a new group of gamers to develop a passion for cars and racing.

Forza Motorsport 6: Apex delivers a focused and curated single-player tour of Forza Motorsport’s best content, including authentic wheel-to-wheel action, unique automotive experiences, and constant rewards, all running on DirectX 12 at resolutions up to 4K. In the game, players will be able to dive into a new career mode anchored by a 12-event “Showcase Tour”, where players will race thrilling cars on circuits from across the globe. In addition, Apex’s new “Spotlight Series” events will challenge players with unique automotive events that will be updated on a regular basis. Along with a new set of Xbox Live achievements to earn worth 1000 gamerscore points, Apex players will find new mechanics to explore, including an all-new Race Points system that dares you to turn off the assists, develop your skills, and take on greater challenges.

In Apex, players will race a diverse line-up of 63 beautifully detailed Forzavista™ cars, each with working headlights, doors, and cockpits, intricately modeled interiors and exteriors, and full damage. Players can push those cars to their limits on 20 exciting track configurations across six locations, including night and wet-weather variants.

Open Beta Updates Delivered Throughout the Summer

During the open beta for Forza Motorsport 6: Apex, players can expect to play a beautiful, high quality experience that will run on a variety of Windows 10-enabled machines. As a first-party Microsoft studio, Turn 10 is obsessed with performance in Forza games and, during the open beta for Apex, we will be working to improve the game’s performance across a diverse selection of hardware setups (see below for our recommended PC specs).

As development continues, players can expect to see updates and improvements to the game.

For example, wheel support is coming to Forza Motorsport 6: Apex and Turn 10 is busy working to ensure that Apex delivers the kind of wheel support, performance, and features that racing fans expect from a range of available hardware. In addition we plan to support additional features that we know are important to PC gamers, such as the ability to disable Vsync and an in-app framerate counter.

Forza Motorsport 6: Apex utilizes the cloud-based Drivatars of your Xbox Live Friends and the Xbox One community, as well as asynchronous leaderboards for comparing your Race Points, but the game will not feature online multiplayer or the livery design editor. However, in an early beta update, we will be adding a selection of curated livery designs from the Forza painting community to the car select flow.

We Look Forward to Your Feedback

While we can’t wait for fans to play the game, we’re equally as excited about how Forza Motorsport 6: Apex helps us improve the gaming experience on Windows 10 for both gamers and developers alike. Following the beta release on May 5, we invite players to download the game and get involved. Feel free to ask questions and report issues at our Web site, in our dedicated Apex forums, and on our social media channels like Twitter and Facebook. Your feedback is crucial in shaping both the future of Apex as well as the Forza series on Xbox One and PC.

Forza Motorsport 6: Apex System Requirements

Forza Motorsport 6: Apex on PC - the Digital Foundry verdict

Turn 10 makes a worthwhile PC conversion of its Xbox One racer, and Forza Motorsport 6: Apex ranks as one of the better optimised games to use the UWP platform to date. The standout feature here is its dynamic mode though; an idea we hope to see implemented more broadly. For a budget i3 PC paired with a GTX 750 Ti, it does exactly what it says on the tin, adapting the game's visual settings to keep playback smooth on a bandwidth restricted GPU. It works brilliantly, and the applications could stretch to many other games.

As a package it's also a very different beast to the Xbox One original. Apex offers fewer tracks and cars, but the ones making the cut potentially run at higher settings than we see on Xbox One. In practice, most improvements aren't perceptible during the heat of a race, but PC's improved anti-aliasing options, higher-res reflections and broadened rear-view mirror LODs help remove some lasting distractions. Each of PC's additions stack up too, and taken as a whole it amounts to the best looking incarnation of the game.

All that remains for Turn 10 to fix is a lingering stutter glitch, which builds up over play. Otherwise, the game's already well optimised for GPUs across the entire stack, and given its free barrier to entry, it's well worth a try for those running Windows 10. It's a step in the right direction for Microsoft's UWP platform too, having housed the troubled launches of Gears of War Ultimate and Quantum Break. In Forza Motorsport 6: Apex's case there's still a level of this safeguarding, but it's hard to complain when the core package gets so much right.

America's favorite motorsport arrives to Forza Motorsport 6. The NASCAR Expansion brings the thrills of stock car racing to the world stage. Featuring 24 new cars from the 2016 season, an all-new career mode, updated gameplay mechanics, and a new destination, the NASCAR Expansion lets you experience the power of NASCAR as only Forza Motorsport 6 can deliver.

Forza Motorsport 6 NASCAR Expansion

America’s most popular form of motorsport is coming to the best-selling racing game of this generation. The NASCAR Expansion for Forza Motorsport 6 arrives today, bringing NASCAR to the world stage. This is an experience that only the comprehensive world of Forza Motorsport can deliver. The expansion features an all-new NASCAR World Tour career with over 10 hours of racing, representing the ultimate “What if…?” for racers around the world.

How would American stock cars fare against Australian V8s at Bathurst, or against WEC prototypes at Le Mans? With the NASCAR World Tour career, players will be able to live these fantasies and answer those questions for themselves, competing in unique events across the cosmopolitan lineup of tracks and circuits in Forza Motorsport 6. Whether battling it out against GT and endurance racers from the world’s top motorsports leagues, sharing the track with open wheelers from IndyCar and Formula E, or testing the limits on classic American ovals like Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway, this is NASCAR like you’ve never experienced it before.

The intensity of driving these quintessentially American race cars is at the heart of the NASCAR Expansion experience. Players will be able to drive twenty-four 2016-season NASCAR models from teams like Joe Gibbs Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and Team Penske, including the cars of top-flight NASCAR drivers Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, and Chase Elliott. Johnson, Busch, and Elliott also serve as the stars of the “Voices of Motorsport” in the NASCAR Expansion, introducing fans to the history and technology of NASCAR.

Along with the new career mode and lineup of new cars, the NASCAR Expansion also includes a new destination – Homestead-Miami Speedway, available in all modes of play – as well as NASCAR-themed Rivals, Leagues and multiplayer hoppers, giving players the chance to experience NASCAR across the entirety of Forza Motorsport 6. And with the addition of brand new features such as rolling starts, a new Quick Stop mode, and a more complex drafting model, the NASCAR Expansion adds new levels of strategy and tension to pack racing in game.

Get ready for a whole new way to race with the Forza Motorsport 6 NASCAR Expansion – available for $20 – coming today, only on Xbox One.

NASCAR Expansion Content
The NASCAR Expansion for Forza Motorsport 6 features 24 NASCAR cars from the 2016 NASCAR season, representing five of the most celebrated and successful teams in series history. Here’s a closer look:

Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi has a deep history in racing, winning his first race at age 18 in a Formula Ford. Ganassi raced in CART and in sports cars with success before buying into Patrick Racing in 1988 and later forming his own race team, Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR), in 1990. Since then the team has grown from a single CART entry to two cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and two in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, four cars in IndyCar Series, two cars in in the WeatherTech United SportsCar Championship, two in the World Endurance Championship, and two Global Rallycross teams. Together these teams have collected 18 championships and more than 160 wins. In NASCAR you will find Jamie McMurray driving the Chevrolet #1 McDonald’s/Cessna Chevrolet SS and Kyle Larson behind the wheel of the #42 Target Chevrolet.

· 2016 Chevrolet #1 Chip Ganassi Racing McDonald's Chevy SS
· 2016 Chevrolet #42 Chip Ganassi Racing Target Chevy SS

Joe Gibbs Racing
Whether you associate Joe Gibbs with his storied NFL coaching career – where he took the Washington NFL team to three Super Bowl titles – or his NASCAR racing teams which have earned four Cup Championships, winning is the common factor. Joe Gibbs Racing operates four NASCAR Sprint Cup cars with Denny Hamlin driving the #11, 2015 Sprint Cup Champion Kyle Busch behind the wheel of the Toyota #18 Camry, Carl Edwards in the #19, and Matt Kenseth in the #20.

· 2016 Toyota #11 Joe Gibbs Racing FedEx Express Camry
· 2016 Toyota #18 Joe Gibbs Racing M&M’s® Camry
· 2016 Toyota #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Interstate Batteries Camry
· 2016 Toyota #19 Joe Gibbs Racing ARRIS Camry
· 2016 Toyota #19 Joe Gibbs Racing STANLEY Camry
· 2016 Toyota #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Subway Camry
· 2016 Toyota #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Dollar General Camry
· 2016 Toyota #20 Joe Gibbs Racing DEWALT Camry

Stewart-Haas Racing
Debuting in 2009 as an owner-driver, three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart partnered with Gene Haas, founder of the largest CNC machine tool builder in North America, to form Stewart-Haas Racing. The team has built itself up to run four teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. Danica Patrick is currently the only female driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series piloting the #10, Stewart races the #14, Kevin Harvick is in the #4, and Kurt Busch drives the #41. All the Chevrolets are powered by Hendrick Motorsports engines.

· 2016 Chevrolet #4 Stewart-Haas Racing Jimmy John’s Super Sport
· 2016 Chevrolet #4 Stewart-Haas Racing Outback Steakhouse Super Sport
· 2016 Chevrolet #10 Stewart-Haas Racing Nature's Bakery Super Sport
· 2016 Chevrolet #14 Stewart-Haas Racing Mobil 1 Super Sport
· 2016 Chevrolet #41 Stewart-Haas Racing Haas Automation Super Sport

Hendrick Motorsports
Since 1984, Hendrick Motorsports has earned a record 11 car owner championships in NASCAR’s premier division, the Sprint Cup Series. The organization fields four full-time Chevrolet teams on the Sprint Cup circuit with drivers Kasey Kahne (No. 5), Chase Elliott (No. 24), Jimmie Johnson (No. 48) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88).

· 2016 Chevrolet #5 Hendrick Motorsports FARMERS Insurance Super Sport
· 2016 Chevrolet #5 Hendrick Motorsports Great Clips Super Sport
· 2016 Chevrolet #24 Hendrick Motorsports NAPA Super Sport
· 2016 Chevrolet #48 Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's Super Sport
· 2016 Chevrolet #88 Hendrick Motorsports Nationwide Insurance Super Sport

Team Penske
Team Penske is one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports with 28 National Championships across open-wheel, stock car and sports car racing competition. Known by his nickname “The Captain,” Roger Penske has been a cornerstone to racing for more than half a century. Team Penske’s NASCAR Sprint Cup driver lineup includes Joey Logano in the #22 and teammate Brad Keselowski, 2012 Sprint Cup champion, driving the #2.

· 2016 Ford #2 Team Penske Alliance Truck Parts Fusion
· 2016 Ford #2 Team Penske Brad K. Fusion
· 2016 Ford #22 Team Penske Shell-Pennzoil Fusion
· 2016 Ford #22 Team Penske AAA Fusion

Homestead-Miami Speedway
Born in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, which devastated the area in 1992, Homestead-Miami Speedway was built as part of the region’s reconstruction. The original layout was a rectangular oval modeled after Indianapolis Motor Speedway. However, due to the track’s shorter length (about 1.5 miles) passing was difficult and made for dangerous crash angles. After attempts to widen the aprons did not resolve the problems, Homestead received a massive reconfiguration in 1997, turning the track into a true oval. Further renovations such as improved banking and lighting for night racing have made it not only a fan favorite, but the home of the NASCAR championship races since 2002. The track also features a road course for sports cars, making Homestead-Miami a justifiably famous and inarguably sunny racing destination.

SugarCubes wrote:"Best selling racing franchise"

Forza Motorsport 6 May Content Update

Today we announced the NASCAR Expansion for Forza Motorsport 6, which you can read more about here. Alongside the new content featured in the expansion, we are also releasing a content update today, which includes a number of brand new features. These features have all been created to improve the racing experience for Forza Motorsport 6 players and, while some are introduced formally in the NASCAR Expansion experience, all of these features are available to Forza Motorsport 6 players regardless of whether or not they have purchased the NASCAR Expansion.

This update to Forza Motorsport 6 is our largest and most significant content update to date. Here’s a closer look at the new features and how they will make the racing experience better for all Forza 6 players:

HUD Proximity Arrows – New on-screen HUD arrows will provide players with information on cars in close proximity. Especially useful for players who prefer to use cockpit or hood perspective when driving, these optional HUD proximity arrows indicate surrounding traffic and will give players that extra chance of avoiding costly wrecks.

Drafting and Drivatars – Making the most of the draft is more important than ever in Forza Motorsport 6. Now, players will be able to feel the intense effects of the draft on their cars’ performance as they fight for every inch at close quarters. In addition, Forza Motorsport 6’s Drivatar opponents have been refined to manage the intricacies of tight pack racing at high speeds, where every inch counts.

Quick Stop – In racing, victory has always required quick reflexes. Forza 6’s new Quick Stop feature means that strategy will play a bigger role than ever. In Quick Stop race mode, all cars are required to take at least one mandatory pit stop before the end of a race. As the race unfolds, choosing an early or late lap for your Quick Stop can be the difference between winning and losing.

Rolling Starts – Now players will have the option to select a rolling starts option for races. Rolling starts offer an exciting alternative to traditional standing starts, giving the players the chance to experience the thrill of green flag starts at speed. Rolling starts also allow the grid to spread out, in turn reducing the number of first-corner accidents.

New Damage Option – For Forza players that love endurance racing, we’ve added a brand new damage option – cosmetic damage with fuel and tire wear. This option is ideal for players who want to experience the challenge of racing long distances while their fuel burns down and tires gradually lose grip, without having to worry about a single crash disabling their car and ruining their race results.

Multiplayer Le Mans – Le Mans has returned to online multiplayer! For the first time in Forza Motorsport 6 players will be able to race on Le Mans’ Old Mulsanne and Full Circuit ribbons in multiplayer hoppers and Leagues.

Announcing the Forza Racing Championship and This Week’s Celebration for Ford’s Return to Le Mans

Forza is the highest acclaimed, best-selling racing franchise of this generation*, with more than 11 million gamers having played Forza on Xbox One and over three million players racing in Forza every month. With the recent addition of the NASCAR Expansion, Forza Motorsport 6 now includes more than 600 fully detailed Forzavista™ cars as well as an unmatched lineup of global racing destinations and disciplines. The sheer scale, authenticity and quality of Forza’s content, together with its massively dedicated community of racers, painters and tuners, have made Forza and Xbox the home for racing.

Just as Forza Motorsport 6 and its community have continued to grow, so has our commitment to competitive online racing and eSports. This year we’ve hosted cash tournaments with Major League Gaming, a global virtual racing league endorsed by the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series, as well as special events that pitted top racing gamers against the professional drivers of FIA Formula E. Today, we are proud to announce Forza Racing Championship, an all-new competitive online racing and eSports initiative debuting this year in Forza Motorsport 6.

The Forza Racing Championship welcomes players of all levels to hone skills as they compete for glory and real-world prizes. Competitions will be open and competitive for all, from brand new players taking their first laps, to the fastest virtual drivers in the world. Forza Racing Championship will be home to the best and most inclusive racing competition in gaming – where everyone has a chance to win, no matter how many miles they have behind the wheel. Stay tuned to ForzaMotorsport.net, as we’ll be sharing more details on the Forza Racing Championship in the near future.

In preparation for the official launch of the Forza Racing Championship and with just days to go before the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing competes in the 84th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 18 and 19, we are releasing the 2016 Ford #66 Ford Racing GT Le Mans race car for free in Forza Motorsport 6. Beginning today, codes for the car will be sent via Xbox Live message to all gamers who have played Forza Motorsport 6. Due to the large number of codes being sent, it could take up to seven days for players to receive their code.

To accompany the release of the Ford GT LM race car, we’re also launching a brand new Le Mans-themed Rivals event in Forza Motorsport 6 this week. Find out how you stack up against your friends and the community. And, be sure to watch the 84th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 18 and 19.

*Based on generation 8 US NPD data through April 2016.

As we get ready for Forza Horizon 3 on September 27th, we’re excited to announce that all Xbox Live Gold members can enjoy Forza Motorsport 6 for free this entire upcoming weekend. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. PDT, Thursday, August 25th, through 11:59 p.m. PDT, Sunday, August 28th, Gold members in Xbox One markets can try the latest entry in the best-selling racing franchise on any platform this generation, Forza Motorsport 6, in entirety and for free.

Forza Motorsport 6: Apex Comes Out of Beta With Wheel Support

We’ve reached an important milestone in the development of Forza Motorsport 6: Apex – as of today, we’re lifting the “beta” tag and releasing Apex as a full-fledged (and still free!) product on the Windows 10 Store. As we exit the beta period of Forza Motorsport 6: Apex development, it’s also time to update players about an issue that many of you have been talking about since the announcement of the game: wheel support.

We’re extremely excited to announce that today’s content update for Apex will bring wheel support to the Forza Motorsport series on Windows 10 for the first time. This is a major landmark for the Forza series on Windows 10 and has been the result of months of hard work from the Turn 10 and Windows teams.

With today’s update, we’re bringing support for a number of popular wheels to the Forza franchise, in Apex and the soon to be released Forza Horizon 3.

This full list:

Logitech G27 Racing Wheel
Logitech G25 Racing Wheel
Logitech G29 Racing Wheel
Logitech MOMO Force Feedback Racing Wheel
Thrustmaster T300RS
Thrustmaster T500 RS Gaming Wheel
Logitech G920 Xbox One Wheel
Thrustmaster T150
Thrustmaster TX Xbox One Wheel
Thrustmaster TMX Xbox One Wheel
Thrustmaster RGT Force Feedback Racing Wheel

Note that there are additional wheels that we plan on bringing on board soon, notably Fanatec products such as the ClubSport V2 Xbox One Hub and the Fanatec CSR models. Support for these Fanatec wheels will be arriving in Apex beginning in late September, with updates for both Windows 10 and Apex. In addition, H-pattern shifters are fully supported in Apex for all Logitech wheels listed above, except for the G29, which will be added at a later date. We will be adding additional support for H-pattern shifters from other manufacturers in the future.

By adding wheel support to Forza Motorsport 6: Apex, we continue to work towards our goal of improving the Apex experience for players and making racing better on Windows 10. We recognize that today’s content update is just the beginning of that journey. As has been the case with Apex since the beginning, we welcome player feedback around the wheel implementation in the game. For more information and support on wheels with Apex, or to let us know what you think, check out the Forza Motorsport 6: Apex Forums.