The Hot Wheels expansion for Forza Horizon 5 has been announced during the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase, confirming something that was leaked earlier in the week. The expansion will be out for the game across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC on 19th July.
Forza Horizon 5 is, obviously, a key game in Xbox Game Pass, but the DLC almost certainly will not be included with the subscription. Instead it’s a separate purchase, though you won’t need to buy the main game if you do have an active Game Pass subscription. We’ll confirm this point when we can.
You might have a sense of déjà vu from a Hot Wheel expansion pack coming to a Forza Horizon game. Forza Horizon 3 also had a DLC filled with enlarged toy cars and covered with swooping plastic orange loops and track, so this will feel like very familiar territory to fans of the series.
Then again, given the popularity of Forza Horizon 5 compared to the previous entries in the series – it had enjoyed 18 million players by January – there will also be tons and tons of players who’ve never played Forza Horizon 3, let alone its expansion DLC. You can’t even go back to that game now, unless you already bought it, what with Microsoft delisting Forza Horizon 3 in late 2020.
In our Forza Horizon 5 review, Dom wrote “Forza Horizon 5 continues the series’ legacy, usurping Forza Horizon 4 as the new pinnacle of open-world racing and as a graphical showcase for the new generation of Xbox console.” We scored the game an impressive 9/10!
This isn’t the only way to get a Hot Wheels fix right now, as the brand has enjoyed more time in the video game spotlight with last year’s Hot Wheels Unleashed. We rather liked it, saying, “Hot Wheels Unleashed puts the brand to perfect use, marrying bright and bold toy car racing with powerful track creation,” and awarding it an 8/10.
