Forza Horizon 2 to be delisted from Xbox Store next month

By Asher Madan
published

Say goodbye to Forza Horizon 2.

Forza Horizon 2 is an open-world racing game for Xbox One and Xbox 360 which takes you all over Italy. The title launched in 2014 and garnered great reviews. However, as is often the case with racing games, music licenses expire and it's easier to stop selling them than go through the renewal process. At the end of next month, Forza Horizon 2 will be removed from the Xbox Store. If you already own the game, you can still download it even after it's delisted. New customers just won't be able to purchase a digital copy. There are plenty of discs lying around at retailers like Amazon (opens in new tab) and GameStop (opens in new tab).

Turn 10 Studios' Brian Ekberg issued the following statement about Forza Horizon 2 on the franchise's website.

A heads up for the Forza community: Forza Horizon 2 will reach 'end of life' status on September 30. That means that the game and its associated DLC will no longer be available for purchase. After September 30, players who own Forza Horizon 2 will still able to download and play the game and its associated content as normal. However, Forza Horizon 2 and its DLC will no longer be for sale. Forza Horizon 2 is currently available as part of August Games With Gold so, if you haven't played it already, now is a great time to grab it.

Be sure to download Forza Horizon 2 through Games with Gold if you haven't already. It's free for the entire month!

Keep an eye on WindowsCentral.com/Gaming for all the latest in Xbox and Windows 10 gaming, accessories, news, and reviews!

Asher Madan
Asher Madan

Asher Madan handles gaming news for Windows Central. Before joining Windows Central in 2017, Asher worked for a number of different gaming outlets. He has a background in medical science and is passionate about all forms of entertainment, cooking, and antiquing.

22 Comments
  • But yet Motorsport 5 isn't delisted yet im thinking it's because of the music
  • That and car licenses.
  • Isn't that difficult to strip out the radios and put the game back in Store again. Yes, the radios are nice, but I'd rather have a game without the radios than have no game at all. Forza Horizon and Horizon 2 are too good to be simply delisted because of lame music industry contracts...
  • It's a shame, but it's clear it's not that simple, for whatever reason.
  • Probably about putting any resources in a 5 year old game. If you want it, I believe it's still free with Xbox gold.
  • The music business is a bunch of vultures, but it might be other licenses that are running out as well. It is sad, but it happens. :/
  • It's not just music licenses but also car licenses. Some manufacturers only license for a set period of time. Porsche is notorious for this for example.
  • The link to Microsoft Store is NOT working. I am in Canada by the way
  • Why would ms ever delist their own property unless due to some drm issues. This seams forced. What is really going on here.
  • Their licenses are running out.
  • And it costs money to renew them, someone appears to have caught the scrooge bug. When profits start dictating consumer and enterprise experiences in terms of software and hardware, everyone loses.
  • A good thing.
    They've managed to put it in Gold, most people'd have it by now.
  • Make original Xbox games backwards compatible and available for purchase, but remove Xbox One games from the marketplace. Something doesn’t add up.
  • They always keep two version of the franchise on. FH3 and with FH4 coming our, 2 is going away. Forza Motorsports also got delisted right after it was given away for free for GwG when FM7 cames out; so currently in the store they have FM6 and FM7, nothing before that. They delist the games so if you're going to buy something you buy the greatest and latest, and in case something happens to the OS, or the way games work, they don't have to go back and patch old games, hence the EOL status. FH2 is a great game, but it did came out 4 years ago.
  • There is also licensing issues with the in game music and car manufacturers. Some only allow a set period of time to use their licenses for sale in a tie-in product. If you own the game physical or digital you can continue to use it forever. It's just they can't continue to sell the game without renewing the contracts. Sometimes the cost of that renewal exceeds the sales of such an old title. Other times the original license holder lost the license themselves, folded or flat out refuses to renew. In that case the game developer would have to update the game to remove that content from future purchases and yet somehow allow past purchasers to keep using it. With low sales later in the game's life there's no financial incentive to do this. No one works for a loss.
  • FFS, read the damn article! It plainly says that the game is being removed due to music licensing and Microsoft has zero interest in spending money to support a four-year-old game that is also two versions ago. The return on investment for the cost of the license renewals isn't worth it. Also, it's free this month (probably related) and so stop complaining and just claim the title.
  • does games with gold "owning" it count, or do you have to actually buy it?
  • On Xbox 360 games you own it forever on your account (probably because they couldn't retrofit any other method on that platform). For Xbox One they are yours as long as you stay a Gold subscriber. I do believe that as long as you claimed it as a subscriber, it is re-activated should your subscription lapse and then you re-sub, but don't quote me on that as I've never verified it myself.
  • i'm definitely quoting you.
  • Well this was also the case with Alan wake... We have to get used to it
  • I install pretty much every free offering from games-with-gold and un install it afterward. That way if I ever wanna play it, I know I can always just re-install it later.
  • You don't even have to do that, just claim it and cancel the download.