Xbox is shutting down the servers of two Xbox One exclusive games, making much of said games unplayable not just on Xbox One, but Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X as well. More and more games are being taken offline due to server costs and the security threat that leaving older games live poses. And this is becoming more and more problematic as more and more games require online services. Even many traditional, single-player games have online elements and online checks now.
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A series very familiar to not just server shutdowns, but delistings due to licensing issues, is the Forza series. Thus, it perhaps should come as no surprise that Forza Horizon and Forza Horizon 2 are both being shut down on August 22, 2023, especially because they’ve both been delisted for awhile. This will render every online element of the game unplayable. That said, the games will remain partially playable thanks to their single-player, offline components.
According to the announcement that comes straight from the Forza website, both of these games have a “very small player population.” In other words, this news doesn’t impact many Xbox fans.
“As these games now have a very small player population, we’ll be closing online services for Forza Horizon 1 and Forza Horizon 2 on August 22, 2023 so that we can focus on our most current games,” reads the announcement. “Please note that due to the age of these games and their services, access to online functionality even prior to the official closure date is not guaranteed.”
The announcement continues: “We know our community has fond memories of exploring Colorado and Southern Europe in Forza Horizon 1 and 2, from meeting new friends on road trips to sharing liveries, photos and tunes, and we thank you all for your incredible passion, support and dedication over the last decade.”
While the single-player experience of both games is not being touched, matchmaking, leaderboards, browsing and download user generated content (including liveries, turning setups, and vinyls) will all become unavailable on August 22.
“While the single-player experience in both games will remain playable, any online functionality such as matchmaking, leaderboards and the browsing and downloading of online User Generated Content (UGC) including liveries, vinyls, tuning setups, and photos will not be available from August 22, 2023,” reads the announcement, specifically.
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