Forza 5 Economy Patch Goes Live

The 455 MB patch, available now as a free content update, introduces several major tweaks to the economy, the most significant of which are a reduction in the cost of high-tier cars and an increase (approximately 60%, under normal conditions) to the credits earned by players every hour.

Forza 5’s Community Manager (and former GameSpot Sports Editor), Brian Ekberg, clarified the changes:

“With this content update, we are dramatically increasing the rate at which credits are earned in the game. For example, the bonus amount earned when you level up in Forza 5 has more than doubled. A player using average difficulty settings will see approximately a 60 percent increase in credits earned per hour – a number that can be further increased by upping the difficulty settings.

The flip side to awarding more credits is lowering the price of the best cars in the game. Cars like the Lotus E21 grand prix car – one of the fastest, most desirable cars in Forza 5 – has gone from 6 million credits at the launch of Forza Motorsport 5 to 2 million credits with this content update.”

But while the focus of the new patch primarily concerns changes to the economy, it also includes new gameplay modes to bolster the multiplayer offering. In addition to 16 or 8-player lobbies for drag racing, an entirely new mode is being introduced, “Tag”, which allows players to “infect” each other through reckless driving.

Mr. Ekberg describes the variations of Tag below:

• “Keep the It: One player begins the match as ‘It.’ The goal is for the ‘It’ player to keep ‘It’ status for as long as possible. ‘It’ status transfers each time someone makes contact with the ‘It’ player. Once the match timer has completed, the player with the most ‘It’ time wins.”
• “Tag Virus – One player begins the match as ‘It.’ Each time an ‘It’ player makes contact with another car, the ‘It’ status spreads like a virus. The last uninfected player standing wins the match.”
• “Pass the It: Similar to ‘Keep the It’, one player begins a ‘Pass the It’ match with ‘It’ status. ‘It’ status transfers each time someone makes contact with the ‘It.’ At the end of the match, the player with the least amount of ‘It’ time wins.”
  

For more information about the thinking behind the economy patch, check out this extensive interview between Xbox Live’s Major Nelson and Turn 10 Studios.

Despite the post-release issues, Forza 5 still offers boatloads of content. Ready Up’s own Drivatar John gave the title 9/10 in his review, citing its excellent balance between realistic and arcade-style driving.