Forza Motorsport 7 Archives

Inaugural Porsche Asia Pacific Forza Cup to run next month

For the first time, Porsche Asia Pacific and Porsche Cars Australia have teamed up with Forza Motorsport 7 to run a simulation racing tournament. Known as the Porsche Asia Pacific Forza Cup, it will see some of the best sim racers in the region compete on the Forza Motorsport 7 tracks of Bathurst, Nurburgring, Le Mans, Silverstone and Hockenheimring.

Qualifiers
The races will begin in a Porsche 918 Spyder which holds the distinction of being the first series production car to beat the lap record of 7 minutes at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in 2013. The race will take place on the rollercoaster Bathurst track which offers an extraordinary mix of 23 fast and slow corners, and gradients of up to 16%.

Subsequent qualifying rounds, to be held in October, will use the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife, in the 911 GT3 RS, and then Le Mans with the 919 Hybrid. Finally, the top 16 players, limited to a maximum of three from one country, will compete to bring home the first Porsche Asia Pacific Forza Cup over two races in a Cayman GT4 Clubsport.

The Finals
The first of the final races will be at the Silverstone track after which the finalists will then go head to head for their second finals race at the Hockenheimring. All 16 finalists and the top 3 participants of the finals will win prizes from the Porsche Driver’s Selection and HUGO BOSS, the official sponsor of the Porsche Asia Pacific Forza Cup.

The titleholder will win an opportunity to race on a real track during a track experience at the Porsche Experience Centre in Hockenheimring, Germany, in 2021.

The tournament is currently open for registrations online from players from the Asia Pacific region. They must hold a Xbox game pass and have either access to a PC, Xbox One, Xbox One S, or Xbox One X. Click here to sign up, or find out more about the race details and points scoring system.

Porsche in Esports
Porsche’s involvement in Esports or sim racing – also referred to as digital motorsports by the FIA – goes back some 3 years and has been growing in recent times, especially this year when real-world racing was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Racing games and Esports connect the real and virtual worlds and enable us to gain further access to the young target group. It means that they can develop a passion for Porsche even before buying their first sportscar”, said a senior executive of the company.

One of its major sim racing events – the Porsche Esports Supercup – was included in a gala event to honour the successes of the teams and driers in motorsport. Porsche was the first major carmaker to recognise the achievements of virtual racers at the same event as their real-world racing peers.

The expanding universe of eSports

Ford forming racing teams in Europe to compete in esports competition [w/VIDEO]

From the early arcade racing games by Atari in the 1970s – crude and basic by today’s standards – to the sophisticated photo-realistic Playstation games of today, videogames with motorsports themes have certainly come a long, long way. They are no longer just games played within the home but online as millions compete against each other from different countries.

In 2019, the global esports market is expected to generate revenues of US$1.1 billion, up 26.7% year on year; the audience will reach 453.8 million, made up of 201.2 million esports enthusiasts and 252.6 million occasional viewers. Contrary to the popular stereotype, the average gamer’s age is in the early thirties.

Across the world, many of these racers get behind the wheel of a virtual Ford vehicle and enjoy racing against friends and as part of online communities. Now the company is going to be seeking out the best online racers to form its first ever esports teams.

National Fordzilla teams in Europe
Starting at Gamescom, Europe’s leading trade fair for digital games culture, Ford will recruit national Fordzilla teams for France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK – as well as a European team consisting the star players from each national team.

“We at Ford have a racing pedigree that others can only envy. Now is the time to take that know-how and apply it to the world of esports – capturing the imagination of a new generation of virtual racing drivers, inspiring them to take a ride in one of our Ford Performance vehicles,” said Roelant de Waard, Vice-President, Marketing Sales & Service, Ford of Europe.

Synergies between gaming and mobility
Ford is increasingly intrigued by synergies between gaming and mobility and how they could help shape the way in which we all get about in the future – whether that is as commuters, as passengers in autonomous vehicles or simply enjoying the thrill of performance.

“The distinction between real and virtual worlds is blurring. Gaming is now a part of mainstream culture. Top gamers challenge professional race drivers in real life and many of our day-to-day activities are ‘gamified’, from using fitness apps to collecting loyalty points for a free coffee,” said Amko Leenarts, Director, Design, Ford of Europe. “Harnessing the passion and expertise of the gaming community will help evolve our thinking around what future journeys will look like – something that we are all committed to and really excited about.”

In 2017, Ford became the first manufacturer to host a stand at Gamescom, which boasts more than 1,000 exhibitors that attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, and last year, the company pioneered the first-ever vehicle reveal at the show – unveiling the Ford Ranger Raptor, the performance version of Europe’s best-selling pickup.

Forza Motorsport 7
Among the games that Fordzilla will compete on is Forza Motorsport 7, developed by Microsoft Game Studios’ Turn 10 Studios. The Forza franchise is the best-selling racing franchise of this console generation and is home to one of the largest racing communities in the world. Millions of people worldwide play Forza games each month, with 1 million players choosing Ford vehicles.

“We are pleased to see Forza Motorsport continuing to be the game of choice for big brands like Ford as they launch esports initiatives,” said Justin Osmer, Sr. Manager of Partnership Development at Turn 10 Studios, the creators of Forza Motorsport. “With millions of fans playing Forza games, we’ve seen significant growth in the numbers who want to compete, or simply spectate, in esports and it’s great to see a long-standing partner like Ford Motor Company bringing even more opportunities to participate.”

To know more about the Ford Ranger Raptor which you can buy in Malaysia, visit www.sdacford.com.my

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Fate of the Furious car pack added to Forza Motorsport 7

Fans of the Fast and Furious movie franchise might have an avenue to live out their fantasies in the virtual world through the Xbox exclusive game, Forza Motorsport 7. There is a 10-car pack available for the game that has all the extreme cars featured in the 7th installment of the blockbuster movie series.

The vehicles depicted in the game are extremely accurate, right down to the colour combinations, aesthetic details and their own unique quirks. The most noteworthy and jovial addition to the car pack however, has to be the Chevrolet Fleetline Special.

It was a vintage vehicle use by character Dominic Torreto to compete in an epic, CGI focused race in the heart of Havana, Cuba. Losing trim panels as the race progressed, the Fleetline Special was driven which such gusto while trying to avoid the baddies, that it caught fire towards the end of the race.

https://youtu.be/RmxUlJSnU4Q

Though many considered the scene a bit too far fetched, the excellently choreographed stunts and meticulous level of CGI detailing made for an enthralling movie scene, one for the Fast and Furious record books.

Besides this vehicle, there are a number of other noteworthy mentions that include the weird but functional Rally Fighter, Jaguar F-Type, Dodge Demon and a Plymouth GTX. Evidently, the movie franchise seems to cherry pick its star vehicles based on their actual appeal in the automotive world, which is a very good thing for car fans.

The Dodge Demon, is the most powerful road legal, drag-ready muscle car that is currently available to the public. It is powered by a 840bhp engine that is able to cover the quarter mile in under 10 seconds, a fitting choice for Dominic Torreto.

Known for his love of Dodge made vehicles, the movie character has used several Chargers, including the modern one, Challengers as well as a number of others. But the following is the list of 10 vehicles featured in the new car pack:

Plymouth GTX
Chevrolet Corvette
Subaru WRX STI
Local Motors Rally Fighter
Subaru BRZ
Jaguar F-Type
Chevrolet Fleetline Special
Dodge Demon
Mercedes-Benz GTS
Dodge Charger

The Fate of the Furious car pack will only be made available to those who own the Deluxe and Ultimate Edition bundles of Forza Motorsports 7. Check out the picture gallery below and admire the vehicles that will be featured in the Forza Motorsport 7 game.

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