Six years after it was removed from sale, the original Forza Horizon game reappeared over the weekend.
Several social media users reported that they could purchase the game from the Xbox Store on Saturday, marking for the first time that it has been available since it was removed in 2016.
But Saturday night, the game had been removed from sale again. It is not clear if the title was republished by mistake, or if this is a potential indication that Microsoft intends to make it available again in the future.
Forza Horizon 5 – Official launch trailer
Forza games must be removed from sale several years after their release due to the third party licenses that the games use to bid on real cars, tracks and other items that are about to expire.
But anyone who buys the Forza games before delisting will have them permanently added to their library and available for download at any time after they are removed. Multiplayer and online services also remain available after the games are removed.
Most recently, Forza Motorsport 7 was removed from sale in September 2021, just four years after its release.
Playground Games recently rolled out a major update to the latest game in the racing series, Forza Horizon 5 for the Xbox Series X.
The game’s Series 6 update shakes up Forza Horizon 5’s PvP experience, Horizon Open, with several new online features.
It introduces custom racing that allows users to match with other players based on their chosen racing parameters, such as PI class and race type.