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Forza Motorsport 4 – No Porsches Included!

Posted on August 25th, 2011 in Console – 41 Comments

The rumors about Porsches being absent from Turn 10′s upcoming Forza Motorsport 4 title that first surfaced a few weeks ago have turned out to be true as the Weissach-based make will no longer be represented FM4.

This is a huge blow in the studio’s ever-going competition with Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo franchise as Forza Motorsport was able to offer Porsches in the first three titles thanks to a sub-licensing agreement with EA.

EA is the sole rights holder for Porsche vehicles in racing games, unfortunately no new agreement could be reached for the new Forza Motorsport title. Turn 10 will now go the same route as PD by offering RUF vehicles in Forza Motorsport 4, the German manufacturer builds sports cars based on Porsche models, selling it under their own brand and thus allowing the studios to bypass the licensing issues.

Porsches were a key content factor in Forza Motorsport 3 as the title offered 35 different models, including street cars and racing machinery. The licensing issues also hurt the studio’s recently-announced partnership with the American Le Mans series as a large chunk of cars in the ALMS field are Porsche machinery.

It remains to be seen whether Porsche’s strategy of strictly sticking with one developer will hurt them in the end. Driving games such as Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport have become powerful marketing vehicles in their own right and while gamers can enjoy Ferraris, BMWs, Nissans & Audis in these titles, Porsche is now maintaing no visible presence in the virtual world aside from the Need for Speed series and community-made content.

To soften the blow a bit, below is some new Forza Motorsport 4 Gamescom footage, courtesy of VVV Automotive.

Forza Motorsport 4 will be released on October 11 in the US and October 14 in Europe, the new title will bring over 600 cars from 80 manufacturers, five brand new tracks and and an improved tire model thanks to a partnership with Pirelli.

GTOmegaRacing.com

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  • John

    Boo, EA and Porsche! You did this to me in GT5, now Forza. :(

  • f12bwth

    Being a total freak for FOV and realism. This actually isn’t a bad setup. There is little or no skewing in the side monitors. Shame you need THREE xbox’s to pull it off. And the track is very fake looking. I don’t care what there “process” of researching the tracks are they just do them wrong.

  • EmptyBox

    Well, looks like FM4 just fell into the “I’ll buy it when it’s cheap” section. The 997 GT3 was one of the few cars in FM3 that just made me smile.

  • mykem

    I agree that it will negatively affect FM4′s recent ALMS licensing since Porsche plays great role in the series although no longer in LMP1, the GT2 class does have three or four 911 RSRs out of the 15 competing cars.  While the GT-C is basically all 911 GT3 Cups.  But with RUF in the game and the ability to do racing upgrades to cars as well as customized paintjob/liveries, you can easily turn a RUF RGT into a 911 RSR and bear any of the ALMS teams’ liveries.

  • Gulyo

    WTF ???!!!

  • Samuel Korthof

    WTF! Porsche cars were my favourite cars in al the FM’s. Big shame. At least we got the RUF’s!

  • henri200

    Turn 10 has exclusive Ferrari license. I wonder if next EA game will have Ferraris :)

  • V$TMcLaren

    I would have buy a xbox 360 just for forza 4, and just for the Porsches. now I want to burn everything in my home that is EA, beginning with Shift 2!

  • V$TMcLaren

    Do Someone Now when this License will Be Over!!!!!

  • V$TMcLaren

    well….I like the RUFin Driver San Fransisco 

  • Marcel Penzkofer

    After the rumors with the ALMS-Deal that previous Porsche Models from FM1-3 will still be in the game and they are just not allowed to make adverts with Porsche on the screens, I really hoped for Porsches in FM4 and would have bought a xBox just for FM3 and FM4, as I already own a Fanatec GT2.

    So that’s it then. Game over. I will never buy this game.

  • erale

    Well it’s not the fault of Turn10 that Porsche isn’t included anymore. Just read the article on fm.net. There is a lot of insight into this topic.

    After all Porsche isn’t the main selling point of games like Forza and GT. It’s nice to have them but it’s not a must have.

  • erale

    The Ferrari license is only exclusive on PC and Xbox 360. So probably Sony owns the rights for the PS3. Shift got a Ferrari DLC on Xbox360. Don’t know about the PS3. But this shows that atleast MS gave EA a sublicense.

  • Marcel Penzkofer

    The thing is, I don’t care whos fault it is. I want a Porsche in the game to drive and compare it with the other supercars. In FM4 you can’t. So I don’t buy it.

    And don’t start of with RUF. RUF isn’t Porsche in any way. It’s just a crappy Tuning-Manufacturer who ruins the whole concept of the cars. Point.

  • erale

    Of course RUF isn’t a proper replacement for Porsche. But that’s currently the only way to get a “Porsche” into the game. The GT series had this for years but for Forza this is new. And the question is: why? All these years there weren’t any problems. Forza had Porsche from the very beginning.

    With your decision to not buy Forza because of the missing Porsche you just do what EA expected us to do. I don’t support EAs moves and while I’ll still miss Porsche in Forza I’ll buy the game. Hell because of this I would just buy the game to show EA that they suck as much as their racing games.

    I’ll definitely never buy any EA racing game again. I had fun with them but I don’t support their moves to fuck up the already small racing genre.

  • mykem

    Believe me had MS been the one who owns the Porsche licensing, they would be just as unwilling (to share) if what it’d mean is a cut into their marketshare.  I predict things are only going to get uglier and like everything else it’s the end-users who get the brunt of corporate greediness.  

  • erale

    As I already wrote MS owns the exclusive license for the Xbox and PC platform. And they do share. How could EA release the Ferrari DLC for Shift 1 without a sublicense?

  • Kieren Jameson

    fuck that Y not burn the EA building down it’ll put an end to Fifa, Madden, NFS, etc

  • Kieren Jameson

    well it’s very simple Turn 10 needs to go to microsoft and make a deal saying we’ll let u have ferrari If we have porsche and I doubt EA will turn it down If money was involved

  • Kieren Jameson

    knowing EA most likely forever cause they’re complete cunts

  • erale

    Well after reading that Turn 10 tries to get EAs ok for 18 months now I don’t think that the Ferrari license is the problem.

    The Ferrari DLC for Shift 1 was released about 18 months ago. Seems that EA got their license and then said: screw you MS.

  • Kieren Jameson

    well If I was microsoft they could easily sue them or buy the license of them

  • John DiFool

    They’ll have an LMP1 ride in 2014.

  • Nicolas Grignon

    I’m SO sick of these licencing disgusting practices, it’s always to the detriment of the player, ALWAYS!  Microsoft, EA: BIG SHAME ON BOTH OF YOU!

  • Nicolas Grignon

    it surely have to do with MS owning ferrari’s rights… A usual, big companies act like spolied brat children:”I can’t have your licence, you can’t have mine” What a BUNCH OF MORRONS (both of them: EA and MS)

    And of course who are the big loosers? US, the gamers!

  • Ricoo

    I don’t mind, I just want Porsches in rFactor2 and I am sure we will have them. :)

  • mykem

    The Ferrari DLC was released only with the first SHIFT and that game came out around the same time as the last Forza.  Obviously, a deal was struck between EA and MS because the DLC was missing from the PS3 version (and if I’m correct the PC version as well).  

    I’m guessing what’s happened is that EA had wanted the Ferrari licensing concurrent with SHIFT2 release date as oppose to how the Ferrari DLC was released with the first SHIFT- which was after the release of Forza 3 (SHIFT came out 2 months prior to Forza 3).  MS wanted the same deal as before despite the bigger gap between the release of SHIFT2 and FM4 which had totally pissed EA off and hence no deal was struck.

  • Arnold-Carter Kingpong Wong

    It proves that I am much more meaningful to build my own Porsche 911 GT3 RSR model………..

  • V$TMcLaren

    only the NFS department ;)  

  • Kieren Jameson

    the answer is simple EA must DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • sosman

    answer is simple….ditch the console crap!

  • Tommy Dale
  • the scrutineer

    dont forget kremer…  not like me to bash tuners though.. ruf had good input.

  • Nicolas Grignon

    no the answer is : Stop the licencing MAFIA business!!!  EA is as bad as MS, Ubi and so on when it comes to this insane licencing stuff, but the worst is the brand’s greed for someone else VIRTUAL creation.

  • racedriver

    EA is competing with GT on PS3 and now even with Forza in 360 so none of these games are allowed to have Porsche. That is the way it goes

  • StarFoXySxv550

    Just hope EA doesn’t convince Porsche to tighten it’s use of trademarks to outside sources or you might only be able to distribute your mod underground at the risk of being stood in front of a judge

    Quoted from http://www.porsche.com/usa/legal-notice/

    “Porsche, Porsche Crest, Porsche Design, 911, Carrera, Targa, Tiptronic, Porsche Speedster, Varioram, CVTip, VarioCam, Boxster, Cayenne, Porsche Cayenne, Cayman, Panamera, Tequipment, “Porsche. There is no Substitute.”, RS, Porsche Bike FS, Porsche Bike S, Pan Americana, PCCB, PCM, Technorad, Varrera, and other Porsche product names, model numbers, logos, commercial symbols, trade names and slogans are trademarks and the distinctive shapes of Porsche automobiles are trade dress of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG (“PAG”) and are protected by U.S. and international trademark laws.”

    I believe they would be totally within rights to refuse any modders to recreate any of the above without prior permission, whether it was for profit or not, and I don’t think it’s beyond EA to pressure Porsche (or EA themselves) into enforcing the laws. Any Digital rendition of a Porsche shape playable in a game could be seen as a potential profit loss to EA and Porsche, and we all know EA love money.

  • Eric Jondon

    Your statement is irrelevant. Their situation now is no different than it was when Forza 3 came out. EA games with Porsches have been coming out for years, so I fail to see why you’re saying “EA is competing now” when they always were.

  • Eric Jondon

    Ditch the console crap?

    Oh… You’re one of THOSE people. Multitalented, in that you’re a pox on both simming AND gaming.

  • Eric Jondon

    At least there’s the RUF loophole. Were this Lambo’s, or Ferrari etc… The deal would be trickier.

  • Eric Jondon

    Seriously, how is this of relevance? “It surely have to do with MS owning Ferrari rights”…

    NOTHING HAS CHANGED FROM FORZA 3 except this licensing. MS always owned Turn 10.

  • Eric Jondon

    Good grief there’s some uninformed individuals on here who clearly know absolutely nothing about A) consoles, B) licensing, C) who owns who. It’s amazing you can dress yourselves.

    I remember when this site was actually good for comments. *sigh*

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