Breaking news, Toyota is back in Forza Horizon 4 with the release of the 1998 Toyota Supra RZ next series update. Playground Games and Turn 10 studios will be letting eager fans get behind the wheels of Toyota next month as part of the Series 17 update. Does this mean Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios have fixed their issues with licensing with the Japanese manufacturers?
What took so long?
During the 13 months that Forza Horizon 4 has been available, having been released last October 2018 following Forza Horizon 2 leaving the Xbox Games Store after four years, over 450 cars have graced its fictionalized Great Britain world. Notable, however, is the absence of cars from automotive manufacturers Toyota, Lexus, and Mitsubishi. Due to possible licensing issues with the Japanese manufacturers, fans feared that the manufacturers would not be returning to the Forza series.
Playground Games and Turn 10 studios surprised fans when Mitsubishi made its return 10 months ago, in January of 2019 as part of the Series 5 update. The update featured seven free Mitsubishi Models namely: the 1992 Galant VR4, the 1995 Eclipse GSX, the 1997 GTO (aka the 3000GT), the 1999 Lancer Evolution VI GSR, the 2004 Lancer Evolution VIII MR, the 2006 Lancer Evolution IX MR, and finally the 2008 Lancer Evolution X GSR.
In what seemed to be a final nail in the coffin is a tweet by Toyota UK in which its cars were available only on Gran Turismo Sport and will not be available on other games such as the Need for Speed or Forza series.
Finally, towards the end of the Forza Horizon 4 Update 16 Live Stream, Forza's principal game designer Mike Brown uncovers a fourth-generation Toyota Supra outside the studio's headquarters. Watch the moment here:
Following the stream is an update from the Forza Motorsport Twitter account featuring a blue fourth-generation Toyota Supra captioned "TOYOTA IS BACK!" The tweet also announced that "Forza and Toyota have joined forces once again!" Hopefully, this means that the Forza Horizon 4 developers Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios have fixed their issues with Toyota.
Is there more to come?
The announcement featuring the fourth-generation Toyota Supra confirms the return of the Toyota, and hopefully Lexus, not only to Forza Horizon but to the entire Forza series. The pioneer Supra will be the first Toyota model to be seen in a Forza title since Forza Horizon 3 way back in 2016, and we expect more models to come.
Hopefully, this means that more Toyota models will be available on other Forza series, like Forza Street, the latest Forza game available on not just Windows 10 and Xbox but also Android and iOS.
The Series 17 Update will be available on Dec. 12, and we'll definitely bring you more news on what other Toyota models will be coming next.
