Last call for Forza Horizon 4: It's being removed from sale in 2 days, so get it while you can

GamesRacingForza Horizon 4Last call for Forza Horizon 4: It’s being removed from sale in 2 days, so get it while you canWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

A car driving through the UK

The excellent and not-very-old racing gameForza Horizon 4will disappear from Steam in just two days, so if you want it, you’d best make your move now. Luckily, “now” is a good time, because it’s currently 80% off the regular price, meaning you cansnag it for just $12/£11/€14.

You might naturally wonder why Forza Horizon 4 is being pulled from sale, not just on Steam but all digital storefronts. It only came out in 2018, after all, it’s very well regarded—we called it “worth enduring the pain of the Microsoft Store” in our89% review, and that’s not nothing—and it still has a healthy player base, with a peak concurrent player count of nearly 44,000 today on Steam alone. That doesn’t sound like a game whose time has come.

The reason for the takedown is one we’ve seen before: expiring license agreements. Simplistically, developers sign deals to use real-world objects and music in their games, but those deals are often not perpetual, meaning that after a certain number of years the right to use that stuff disappears. That leaves developers and publishers with choices: Negotiate a new deal, remove theno-longer-allowedcontent, or say, “Hey, we had a good run,” and pull the plug.

In 2012, for instance, Rockstar removedGTA: Vice Cityfrom sale because of expiring music licenses, although it eventually came back. Earlier this year, 2K pulled the excellentSpec Ops: The Linefor the same reason, and the odds of it coming back are basically zero. Alan Wake ended up in a weird situation where it has twodifferent ending songs, depending on which version you own: David Bowie’s Space Oddity was cut from the original release in September, but remains in Alan Wake Remastered.

Alan Wake was actuallypulled from sale entirelyin 2017 because of expiring music licenses, although it wasbrought backa little over a year later after Microsoft negotiated a new deal with the rightsholders. That back and forth, and the more recent split-down-the-middle, really illustrates what a mess licenses can become years after a game has had its moment in the sun.

Licensed music can be a real boon for games. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, for instance, wouldn’t be the game it is without Chiasm, Lacuna Coil, and Darling Violetta. But examples where it does more harm than good are plentiful: We losttwo of the best racing sims everin 2022 because of expiring licenses, and they’re just gone, beyond the reach of anyone who didn’t buy them prior to the takedown and doesn’t particularly want to resort to dodgy key resellers or less-than-legal means.

The one upside to the Forza Horizon 4 takedown is that, unlikeUbisoft’sCrew-shankingearlier this year, the game will remain available and playable for anyone who owns it. If you want to be part of that crew, now’s the time—Forza Horizon 4 disappears for good on December 15.

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