Which two countries form the main setting of Forza Horizon 2?

The main setting of Forza Horizon 2 is Southern France and Northern Italy—commonly shortened to France and Italy.

The game’s fictional Horizon Festival spreads across a large open-world interpretation of southern Europe. Its environments draw on places including Provence, the Côte d’Azur, Liguria and the Italian coast, with towns and landmarks adapted rather than reproduced as a fully literal map.

This setting marked a major change from the original Forza Horizon, which used Colorado as its backdrop. Playground Games chose southern Europe after investigating more than 30 possible locations, seeking varied scenery, distinctive roads and a setting that felt different from the North American locations common in open-world driving games.

Forza Horizon 2 was released for both Xbox One and Xbox 360. The Xbox One version offered the more advanced technical presentation, including dynamic weather, while Sumo Digital developed the Xbox 360 edition. The French-and-Italian setting is therefore more precise than answers such as Spain and Portugal or Germany and Austria.