Does Forza Motorsport have multiplayer?

The latest Forza Motorsport would be the eighth title in the series, but the developers have chosen to omit the number in its name. This is deliberate, to demonstrate what the game is supposed to be: a new platform, with overhauled multiplayer mechanics that is here to stay for many years; a game where players can invest their time —and money —without fearing the developers will move on to the following title. So in a word, yes, Forza Motorsport has multiplayer. If you want to know more about it, keep reading.

What is new in Forza Motorsport multiplayer?

The development of Forza Motorsport was heavily centered on multiplayer. The goal of the team was to create a platform that promoted clean racing and fair competitiveness while also giving the options to build your car, increase its performance, and race with friends. That is why the multiplayer system is split into Featured Multiplayer, Private Multiplayer, and Rivals events.

Featured Multiplayer in Forza Motorsport

The Featured Multiplayer is structured as race weekend events. Each event has an amount of time to use for practice and qualifying (usually 20 minutes) and a race (real world time) starting hour. You can join the lobby as long as the practice time hasn't ran out, and use the remaining minutes to get a good feel for the track or to set a fast time for qualifying. When the clock ends, the actual race begins.

Although it may seem uncomfortable having to wait before every race, there should always be scheduled events that are about to begin; and if you are like me and take your time to adjust the setups and set a fast qualifying lap, 20 minutes for practice isn't a lot.

Another novelty of this multiplayer system is you will share the track with the other drivers all across the race weekend, which includes open practice, qualifying, and the race. I quite like this approach, since seeing them on track could be useful to determine who is my opposition and observe their driving style before the race.

Related: Which edition of Forza Motorsport should you buy?

Spec Events in Forza Motorsport

There are two types of Featured Multiplayer events: the Spec Events and the Open Events. Spec events are series of multiplayer races within a given racing car category. Two of these series will always be available —the Forza Touring Car Series and Forza GT Series —while the rest will rotate every week. When you compete in these lobbies, your car specs and tuning will be reset temporarily so every car has the same Performance Index. In other words, players will be competing against each other based purely on skill, since they will be driving equal machinery.

Open Events in Forza Motorsport

These are similar to the Spec Events, but the difference is here you can bring any car, as long as it meets the class restrictions (maximum Performance Index). This is aimed at testing your favorite cars in competition and battling with friends to see who has built the meanest machine. The series of Open events also refreshes every week.

Forza Race Regulation (FRR) in Forza Motorsport

Turn 10 (developer team of Forza Motorsport) has used machine learning system to improve the penalty regulation system. The new FRR can identify thousands of different race incidents (corner cutting, incidental crashing, blocking, etc.) and evaluate how severe the offense is and deliver according penalties (or disqualifications). This is all in an attempt to promote clean racing and use the matchmaking system to group dirty drivers together in separate lobbies.

Safety Rating in Forza Motorsport

This rating comes out of your FRR revisions and any penalties you may have received, and takes precedence over the Skill Rating in the matchmaking system. Although it is possible to increase your Safety rating by racing more and racing cleaner, you will inevitably get involved in more accidents if you have already fallen into "dirty" lobbies. To avoid that, I will do my best not to fall into a bad rating to begin with and suggest you do the same.

Qualifier Series in Forza Motorsport

This series is for players who enter the multiplayer for the first time. You need to complete these introductory events to get a Skill Rating and a Safety Rating before being able to compete in Spec events or Open events.

Skip lap in Forza Motorsport

A new feature usable in any multiplayer event during qualifying or time-trial, it gives you the option to skip the rest of the lap if you consider it ruined or you are too far from the pace. It is effectively like restarting the lap, but it will count against the amount of laps you have done, meaning if you only have three laps to set a qualifying time and you skip one, you are not getting that attempt back and will only have the two remaining.

Related: Is there early access for Forza Motorsport?

Private multiplayer in Forza Motorsport

A custom event for you and your friends. You can configure the car class, the track, the length, and any other difficulty and penalty setting for the event to customize your experience however you like.

Rivals events in Forza Motorsport

A classic mode from Forza Motorsport where you compete against the entire player base for the fastest time on any given track. A time trial competition where you have the track all for yourself, you can see the ghost car of your closest competitor on the timesheet. As you put in faster laps and beat the ghost car, you will be faced against the next competitor in the list, and so on.

Is there split Screen in Forza Motorsport?

According to developer Turn 10, the graphical improvements to the game have made it difficult to implement Split Screen. So there will be no Split Screen at launch, and it doesn't seem like it is a plan for the future either.

How to add AI cars in multiplayer

The new machine-learning Forza Race Rating system is designed to evaluate human players and would be compromised if there were any AI cars during multiplayer events, so there is no possibility of adding AI competitors to complete the grid.

For more on Forza Motorsport, check out Forza Motorsport is pushing tech to the next level here on Pro Game Guides