Skip to main content

Forza Racing Championship coming with new ‘Forza Motorsport 7’ esports features

Announcing Forza Racing Championship 2018!

Buckle up, put on your driving gloves — if you still wear those — and practice your drifting, because Microsoft is looking for the best Forza Motorsport 7 players in the world. The Forza Racing Championship 2018 kicks off in April, and it’s looking for competitors right now.

On March 24, Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios will host a preseason invitational for the Forza Racing Championship featuring “some of the best drivers and teams around the world” before the regular season kicks off on April 2. It will be split into two series of seven weeks each, and they will end with a live playoff event worth $75,000.

“At the end of the two series, the top 24 drivers will be invited to compete in the Forza Racing World Championship for their shot at a $100,000 prize pool and the title,” it said on the official website. The first series finale will take place live in Seattle, while the second will be live in Mexico City. The World Championship will take place live in London in October.

Registering for the Forza Racing Championship is free, but requires that you have an Xbox One and Xbox Live Gold, a copy of Forza Motorsport 7, and are at least 16 years old. You’ll have to create a Gfinity account if you don’t already have one and connect it to your Xbox Live account in order to be registered.

Along with the Forza Racing Championship, Turn 10 is also bringing esports-focused features from Forza Motorsport 6 into Forza Motorsport 7 with enhancements. The “spectate” option features improved camera angles and “100 percent precise” car positioning data, and “See the Grid” gives viewers the ability to easily see position changes in real time.

“Both Spectate and See the Grid will be added as part of our February content update for Forza Motorsport 7 and represent just the start of our esports feature set,” Turn 10 esports channel manager Ryan O’Connor said in the announcement.

Forza Motorsport 7 is available now on Xbox One and Windows 10, and buying a digital copy for one system automatically gives you a copy for the other via Xbox Play Anywhere. On Xbox One X, the game runs at 60 frames per second with 4K resolution.

Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
Xbox and the Special Olympics are leading an esports ‘inclusion revolution’
Three shoutcasters on couches.

The Gaming for Inclusion event is hosting its second annual tournament on September 10 and 17 in collaboration between Xbox and Special Olympics. The goal of Gaming for Inclusion is the result of multiple years of collaboration between Microsoft and the Special Olympics that dates back to 2018. The two have partnered to create numerous events, but when COVID forced so many Special Olympic events to be cancelled, a new, greater need for virtual ways for people to connect was needed.

I spoke with Special Olympics CTO Prianka Nandy and last year's Rocket League champion Billy Seide to learn about the initiative that's looking to expand the reach of esports to all players.
Widening esports
For Nandy, the event was a new way to bring the mission of Special Olympics to the public, especially for youth, in a new and exciting way. Aside from giving those with learning disabilities a platform to compete, connect, and learn, it also aims to break down boundaries by hosting Unified brackets where one Special Olympics athlete and one celebrity, such as a WWE wrestler or social media influencer, team up to compete together.

Read more
Xbox again teams up with the Special Olympics for inclusive esports event
Xbox Series S

Xbox will once again partner with the Special Olympics for its second annual Gaming for Inclusion Esports event. It will take place on September 10 and 17.

In 2021, Xbox partnered up with Special Olympics to create the Gaming for Inclusion Esports tournament. This first event was the culmination of nearly a decade of Xbox and Special Olympics working together to empower differently abled athletes to compete and commentate on games. It partnered athletes and celebrity partners in competitions featuring games such as Rocket League, Madden NFL 22, and Forza Motorsport 7. In 2021, the event saw Jayson Tatum, Jamaal Charles, and many WWE Superstars compete alongside Special Olympics athletes.

Read more
PlayStation makes a big esports play with latest acquisition
playstation repeat esports

Sony has acquired the esports platform Repeat.gg, a site that hosts leaderboard tournaments and tracks player performance.

In a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, Steven Roberts, Sony vice president of global competitive gaming said: "At PlayStation, our vision for esports has always been about breaking down barriers for gamers to compete at all levels."

Read more