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You can no longer buy Forza 5 digitally on Xbox One

Majine

Banned
On Msft said:
Forza Motorsport 5 is no longer available to purchase digitally on Microsoft's Xbox One console. As with previous Forza video games, this removal from the store is simply due to licences expiring and is not a reflection of the Forza or Xbox brands. Those who had previously purchased the game will be able to download it at any time in the future. It is simply the ability to purchase it that has been deactivated.

Microsoft recently gave away Forza Motorsport 5 to Xbox Live Gold subscribers as part of a monthly Games With Gold campaign. The removal of the title from the store seemingly explains why this was done. This removal also coincides with the launch of Forza Motorsport 7 on Windows 10 and Xbox One though this is likely a coincidence.

Xbox One owners wanting to buy Forza 5 can still buy physical copies of it on disk and digital codes are still redeemable. Amazon is currently selling digital codes for Forza 5 for only $14.99 while the disk version is going for $20.69. Both are pretty good prices for such a major title.

Forza Motorsport 5 launched alongside the Xbox One console as a Day One video game. It was not only a major graphical upgrade for the franchise, being the first game on the next generation of consoles, but also introduced the critically acclaimed Drivatar feature which populates races with AI drivers created by a user's Xbox Live friends list and their related playing data.

Source

Another reminder of the shortcomings of an all-digital future. Licenses shift around.
 

xrnzaaas

Gold Member
Hm strange I always thought that it was the licensed music that caused delisting of Forza Horizon 1.
 

dc89

Member
Wait isn't Forza 5 a games with gold title this month?
I'm sure I downloaded it the other day. Strange decision to make the game available like that as you'd think they'd have been aware of this situation.
 
Source

Another reminder of the shortcomings of an all-digital future. Licenses shift around.

hmm shortcomings... Those who had previously purchased the game will be able to download it at any time in the future.... sounds fine to me, and if you have not got Forza 5 by now, you probably were never going to buy it.
 
I started playing this again yesterday and kinda wish there was loot boxes (without crappy % rates, ugh) to spend the loads of credits I have. 40-something million with nothing to spend it on.
 

angelic

Banned
Literally dug it out of a 3 year old xbox console box yesterday (redeemable code). Worth playing or dated?
 
Literally dug it out of a 3 year old xbox console box yesterday (redeemable code). Worth playing or dated?
I was Level 530 or so without VIP double XP bonus in FM5, but after playing FH2, FM6, FH3 and the FM7 demo... Yeah, dated. The others are all fine and even FM4 and FH1 are still great, but FM5 had sooo little grip. Less cars and tracks too.
 

Bsigg12

Member
Wait isn't Forza 5 a games with gold title this month?
I'm sure I downloaded it the other day. Strange decision to make the game available like that as you'd think they'd have been aware of this situation.

It's mentioned in the OP...
 
Something to consider with any game that has something licensed in it. Microsoft dropped it on Games With Gold which was good. At least it wasn't like other publishers that let games quietly disappear without giving players a chance.

On the other hand, it's been out for ages. If you didn't want it then, you don't want it now. Preservation is not an issue.
 

zeelman

Member
Something to consider with any game that has something licensed in it.


On the other hand, it's been out for ages. If you didn't want it then, you don't want it now. Preservation is not an issue.

What if I wanted a cheap copy? The game is only four years old. MS is being really cheap with licensing lately.
 

xrnzaaas

Gold Member
Literally dug it out of a 3 year old xbox console box yesterday (redeemable code). Worth playing or dated?

That depends. If you've played Forza 6 or 7 then the answer is no. If you can afford to buy Forza 6 (which is really cheap right now) then the answer is also no. ;p The only good reason to play it is to get the points for the Forza loyalty program.
 

Ein Bear

Member
Kind of cool how they gave it away with GWG before this happened. Think they did the same with the original Forza Horizon too?
 

sn0man

Member
I was Level 530 or so without VIP double XP bonus in FM5, but after playing FH2, FM6, FH3 and the FM7 demo... Yeah, dated. The others are all fine and even FM4 and FH1 are still great, but FM5 had sooo little grip. Less cars and tracks too.

Less tire grip than FM4? Like it’s harder to make a turn?

hmm shortcomings... Those who had previously purchased the game will be able to download it at any time in the future.... sounds fine to me, and if you have not got Forza 5 by now, you probably were never going to buy it.

I felt MS had lost their way but this year has me interested. FM was my favorite game/series as a 360 owner last gen. As someone who briefly had a Pro but was missing the series I’d be tempted to pick up where I left off (even in an abbreviated earn 25 cars, race all tracks 5 times, etc, and move on to 6 fashion).

Something to consider with any game that has something licensed in it. Microsoft dropped it on Games With Gold which was good. At least it wasn't like other publishers that let games quietly disappear without giving players a chance.

On the other hand, it's been out for ages. If you didn't want it then, you don't want it now. Preservation is not an issue.

Preservation has been an issue since greatest hits / DLC complete edition seem to no longer be a thing. In fact I’d pay somewhere in the $40 for a retail definitive content of FM5 if it came out today.

The funny thing is though that this isn’t some story-based thing, it’s sort of like a Madden, but sort of not. In Madden you don’t have to pay extra to get a digital license to download the quarterback of the Packers, where in FM5 very specific cars are locked away forever.
 

cory64

Member
Started playing this a day or two ago after having DLed the GWG a few weeks ago and it's killing me that I can't get the free Honda pack now so I could play with something close to my real life car.
 

Audioboxer

Member
You still own the game and are able to buy it physically if you want. I see no problem here.

Yup, but the BIG but is... an all-digital future.

Hence why many of us console gamers buy our games on disc. While I'm sure we'll have 8K remasters in 20 years, some games are nice to have catalogued for when you're an "old person" and maybe have kids you want to show games of the past. Or even just play again yourself.

You keep your licenses

Sony and MS can revoke licenses. It's legal for them to do so EVEN if you've paid them money.
 
You still own the game and are able to buy it physically if you want. I see no problem here.

All digital future implies you cant buy it physically. The danger is going forward with a truely all digital future would be the limited window to make purchases. I can buy physical copies of numerous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles titles across multiple platforms if I get an itch. I can't buy Reshelled. Now imagine that all titles were digital only.

The commentary was not on an individuals choice to go all digital but rather publishers going that route (like what was attempted with the Xbox One).
 
DLC too, which means a few achievements are now unobtainable. Really crappy that they didn't give people any forewarning.

I started playing this again yesterday and kinda wish there was loot boxes (without crappy % rates, ugh) to spend the loads of credits I have. 40-something million with nothing to spend it on.

Perhaps I'm crazy but maybe you could spend those credits on cars and upgrades?
 

danmaku

Member
I don't understand how selling a digital copy of a game with an expired license is illegal, but selling a physical copy is not. What's the difference?
 

Madness

Member
Source

Another reminder of the shortcomings of an all-digital future. Licenses shift around.

I mean, it is a racing game superseded every 2 years by a better version. It has been almost 4 years. If you were going to own it by now you would. And if you did, you can still download it easily.

And if you wanted to buy it digitally now for some reason, why? It was free last month if you had gold. Plus,Forza Motorsport 6 and 7 are far superior. Additionally, licenses are in few games, mostly only racing titles as they license real cars and brands.

I don't understand how selling a digital copy of a game with an expired license is illegal, but selling a physical copy is not. What's the difference?

Because those physical games were already manufactured, printed and shipped. I doubt you'll find many new copies anywhere. Most are resells. Whereas digitally is basically 'creating' new copies and selling them when you can't. You don't see MS pressing new FM5 discs do you?
 

Shpeshal Nick

aka Collingwood
You still own the game and are able to buy it physically if you want. I see no problem here.

In all fairness, I bought Driver San Fran digitally and yet cannot redoanload it should I delete it by accident or my hard drive corrupts.
 

nekkid

It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan.
Would this impact the ability to redeem a code, I wonder?
 

FyreWulff

Member
All that happens is physical hides the license expiration, but there's still a finite amount of copies. It just looks like the license is perpetual because new unsold copies and used copies linger for years and years.

Digital is the opposite problem: since there's infinite copies, theroetically, it just becomes obvious when the license to make those infinite copies runs out.

Would this impact the ability to redeem a code, I wonder?

No. At least on sane services. Generated codes have all already been 'paid for' to the licensor, they're functionally like a physical copy of something.

So for example you can still get some Rock Band songs that expired if you find the codes for them on track packs and bundles, because Harmonix paid for X amount of those codes to be printed already. As far as the licensor is concerned those are already "sold" to them.


I don't understand how selling a digital copy of a game with an expired license is illegal, but selling a physical copy is not. What's the difference?

Because any legal copies of something, the license holder has been paid for all of those copies already. After it goes out the door then the right of first sale generally applies. The tradeoff here is no publisher is going to make 6 million copies of every game to ensure anyone who wants it will always get one, because they have to warehouse those copies, etc. They always tried to minimize the amount of unsold copies vs printed. But they had the right to make those copies, they just had to take the risk of how much money they were paying to the licensor and the other costs vs expected sales.

Another way to think about it is digital copies of a game are like instantly making a physical copy. You can't legally make any "new" copies after your license runs out. Yes, technically redownloading is making a new copy of the game too, but legally, only the initial sale counts.
 

nekkid

It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan.
All that happens is physical hides the license expiration, but there's still a finite amount of copies. It just looks like the license is perpetual because new unsold copies and used copies linger for years and years.

Digital is the opposite problem: since there's infinite copies, theroetically, it just becomes obvious when the license to make those infinite copies runs out.



No. At least on sane services. Generated codes have all already been 'paid for' to the licensor, they're functionally like a physical copy of something.

So for example you can still get some Rock Band songs that expired if you find the codes for them on track packs and bundles, because Harmonix paid for X amount of those codes to be printed already. As far as the licensor is concerned those are already "sold" to them.

Thanks for clearing that up - was just curious.

This doesn’t seem like a problem, to me.
 

playXray

Member
Another reminder of the shortcomings of an all-digital future. Licenses shift around.

Same thing happens with physical media. Only a finite number of physical copies of, say, Tekken are still around. As discs degrade or get scratched/broken they will eventually disappear. Ironically, digital distribution is keeping stuff like Tekken around.

Not saying digital doesn’t have its problems, but licensing issues are more of an all-round problem.
 

Black_Stride

do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Source

Another reminder of the shortcomings of an all-digital future. Licenses shift around.

How is this really any different to physical.
Forza 5 discs arent produced anymore?

And if you already own a disc then you are okay same as if you already own the digital licence for the game.

And before you say oww but i can buy a second hand disc....well you can still find digital codes around soo.......this isnt anywhere near as big a deal as some are making it out to be.

If you own the game physical or digital its yours no worries.
 

sn0man

Member
How is this really any different to physical.
Forza 5 discs arent produced anymore?

And if you already own a disc then you are okay same as if you already own the digital licence for the game.

And before you say oww but i can buy a second hand disc....well you can still find digital codes around soo.......this isnt anywhere near as big a deal as some are making it out to be.

If you own the game physical or digital its yours no worries.

Your example isn’t exactly the same. Saying I found a physical copy laying around could mean it was in a warehouse never sold and Amazon/Walmart whomever found it and decided to sell the unsold physical copy. That is the same as saying Amazon/Walmart whomever found an unused digital download code AND the license holder still has the servers running to redeem said download code. Yes those are equivalent and maybe the paper with the download code is better when the console disc drive is dead and can’t work with the unsold disc.

The other option (that makes physical so nice) is a physical second hand disc I found on eBay from Jane or at a garage sale from Timmy was already used and enjoyed by said parties but I can still purchase the disc and fire it up in my video game console which may be a console different from the one used to originally play the game. No needing to phone home and authorize my console to play a license... with a disc the license is linked to the disc itself.
 
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