Forza Horizon 4 will no longer be available on Microsoft Store or Steam later this year

On Friday, Playground Games mentioned that Forza Horizon 4, their open-world racing game, will disappear from the Microsoft Store and Steam starting December 15th. This game is also being removed from Xbox Game Pass, but people who have purchased it can still play it.

Playground mentions that this shift is due to “licensing and agreements with our partners,” which can be assumed to be the car companies whose vehicles are shown in-game.

The last event inside the game will happen from the 25th of July until the 22nd of August; after this, certain achievements will no longer be unlockable.

The game’s DLC starts being removed today, but according to the FAQ on Playground’s website, people who already bought it can still access it.

Also, if you played Forza Horizon 4 using Xbox Game Pass and purchased the game’s DLC, then you are eligible for a token that lets you download the complete game and keep playing it beyond December 15th.

This code will be sent to players who qualify and have a fully paid Xbox Game Pass subscription in the upcoming days. It must be used by June 25th, 2026.

The developer states, “From December 15, 2024 onward, Forza Horizon 4 will not be for sale on digital stores, and it will be taken off the Xbox Game Pass.” But those players who already possess this game can still get its download and play it regularly with all its offline and online features, including multiplayer.”

When it is removed from the store, Forza Horizon 4 will be six years old. This game was launched in October 2018.

Although Playground Games’ more recent offering Forza Horizon 5 could be seen as a natural replacement, it’s always melancholic to observe digital games essentially becoming unavailable for purchase – even though in this scenario at least players can still play them and servers will remain up.