For Digital Foundry, this was one of the biggest highlights of this year's Xbox E3 showcase – and quite possibly, the show as a whole. No CG trailers, no empty title announcements, but real meat: an authentic in-game showcase demonstrating that Playground Games is set to deliver a true next-gen driving experience for Xbox Series consoles and suitably equipped PCs – and we don't have that long to wait either: we'll be playing Forza Horizon 5 from November 22nd this year.
However, despite delivering a beautiful next-gen showcase in its presentation, the truth is that Forza Horizon 5 is a game set to straddle the generations. The demo we saw was clearly leveraging the horsepower and storage prowess of the new wave of gaming hardware, but there's going to be an Xbox One version too – set to run at 1080p30 no less, just like prior Forza Horizon titles. Looking at the material we've seen so far, it scarcely seems possible, but it's definitely happening.
Quite how Playground looks set to deliver this hasn't been fully laid out – though in today's big Forza Horizon 5 interview, the game's creative director, Mike Brown, tells Eurogamer's Oli Welsh that "since Horizon 3, we have already been on PC, and that means that we're already used to delivering a game on a whole range of system specifications. So having to have the game work on Xbox One, Xbox Series consoles, PC, it isn't that different. I think having to support the Xbox One consoles is exactly the same amount of effort as it is to support a lower spec PC. We're actually feeling pretty great about all versions of the game, to be honest."
