What was the North American release date of the original Forza Horizon?
Answer
23 October 2012
The North American release date of the original Forza Horizon was 23 October 2012.
Developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios, Forza Horizon launched exclusively on Xbox 360. It introduced an open-world spin-off from the more simulation-focused Forza Motorsport series, combining licensed cars with a fictional music-and-motoring festival in Colorado.
The date is sometimes confused with later Horizon releases. Forza Horizon 2 arrived in 2014, while Forza Horizon 3 launched in 2016. The original game was eventually removed from the Xbox 360 Marketplace in October 2016 after its licensing period ended, although existing owners could continue accessing it.
Forza Horizon also established several series trademarks, including festival progression, popularity earned through driving activities, and a freely explorable map. Those ideas became the foundation for the larger open-world structure of the subsequent Horizon games.