For fans of racing games, you may want to act quickly and pick up Forza Horizon 4 before it gets delisted in December.
On December 15th, Microsoft / Xbox Game Studios will remove it from all digital stores. They said this is being done due to "licensing and agreements with our partners". A common occurrence for racing games, often due to music and car licenses. It will still be fully playable though as they said "Players who already own the game and its content will be able to download and play it as normal, including its offline, online, and multiplayer features; physical copies of the game purchased after this date will also work and will be able to use online features".
The game currently has a 
Steam Deck Playable rating, and works on desktop Linux too with Proton.
Such a shame, all these licensing deals wreak havoc on game preservation. That's only 6 years after release, which is really not a long time. Sure, there's games following it, but still complete rubbish to have games just vanish from stores like this. At least in this case Playground Games are keeping the servers online, but for how long exactly when they won't be making any money from it?
It's 80% off on Steam for the next 5 hours, ending at 5PM UTC. There's a chance it may have other discounts later before finally being removed but it also may not.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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QuoteSuch a shame, all these licensing deals wreak havoc on game preservation.You actually fear that Valve is going to remove the game?
Quoting: kokoko3kI wonder what happens to pirate copies...Just because it's not sold anymore doesn't void the licenses. With this premise free software would not be possible, would it?
who's gonna sue them?
Sounds like a de-facto free zone to me.
Last edited by poiuz on 28 June 2024 at 6:25 am UTC
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StoneColdSpider Jun 28
This was always bound to happen sadly..... With licenced cars and music.....
Forza Horizon 4 only came to steam in 2021 and now its going to be gone forever...... That is a very tiny window on purchase......
When GTR2 re-released the games on Steam they lost the Ferrari and Porsche licence...... And they had to make the Ferraris and Porsches gray bricks and also make them non selectable by the player......... So this is not a new issue at all......
Thankfully I have never cared about Forza(Or anything that requires a Xbox Live Account)........ But it does indeed suck for anyone who might care in the future who never had a chance to buy it when it was available.......
EA and 2K do this as well with their games...... Only F1 23 and F1 24 are available on Steam........ WWE 2K23 and WWE 2K24 are the only ones on steam as well..... Same with the likes of Madden and NBA......
It all boils down to money...... What a time to be alive.......
Forza Horizon 4 only came to steam in 2021 and now its going to be gone forever...... That is a very tiny window on purchase......
When GTR2 re-released the games on Steam they lost the Ferrari and Porsche licence...... And they had to make the Ferraris and Porsches gray bricks and also make them non selectable by the player......... So this is not a new issue at all......
Thankfully I have never cared about Forza(Or anything that requires a Xbox Live Account)........ But it does indeed suck for anyone who might care in the future who never had a chance to buy it when it was available.......
Quoting: KimyrielleI wonder why a company with as much leverage as Microsoft even agrees to licensing like that.Those contracts gives them reasons to remove the pesky older cheaper games...... And release a newer shiner more expensive game that will also be gone in a few short years and then the cycle continues.......
EA and 2K do this as well with their games...... Only F1 23 and F1 24 are available on Steam........ WWE 2K23 and WWE 2K24 are the only ones on steam as well..... Same with the likes of Madden and NBA......
It all boils down to money...... What a time to be alive.......
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Quoting: poiuzQuoteSuch a shame, all these licensing deals wreak havoc on game preservation.You actually fear that Valve is going to remove the game?
Quoting: kokoko3kI wonder what happens to pirate copies...Just because it's not sold anymore doesn't void the licenses. With this premise free software would not be possible, would it?
who's gonna sue them?
Sounds like a de-facto free zone to me.
(unrelated)
"License" is something that allows you to use a product under defined conditions, no license means no rights to use.
Btw, I was not speaking about licenses nor imply that copying that game becomes legal.
My question was "who's gonna sue" on purpose.
Since the game is not sold anymore, the interest from the publisher nears to zero. Would it really take actions against pirates?
Last edited by kokoko3k on 30 June 2024 at 5:07 am UTC
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BlackBloodRum Jun 30
Think this is bad? Wait until those "requires online to play" games start getting this. Not only will they be de-listed, but they will also be unplayable. 
Last edited by BlackBloodRum on 30 June 2024 at 5:24 pm UTC
Last edited by BlackBloodRum on 30 June 2024 at 5:24 pm UTC
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Quoting: BlackBloodRumThink this is bad? Wait until those "requires online to play" games start getting this. Not only will they be de-listed, but they will also be unplayable.See also: Ubisoft's The Crew, which was not only delisted, but they then went and removed it from the libraries of everyone who had purchased it, too.
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Quoting: PenglingGood lord. Was there fallout? I'd be out for scalp if someone did that to me.Quoting: BlackBloodRumThink this is bad? Wait until those "requires online to play" games start getting this. Not only will they be de-listed, but they will also be unplayable.See also: Ubisoft's The Crew, which was not only delisted, but they then went and removed it from the libraries of everyone who had purchased it, too.
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slaapliedje Jul 1
Quoting: Purple Library Guyhttps://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-is-deleting-the-crew-from-players-libraries-reminding-us-we-own-nothing-165328083.htmlQuoting: PenglingGood lord. Was there fallout? I'd be out for scalp if someone did that to me.Quoting: BlackBloodRumThink this is bad? Wait until those "requires online to play" games start getting this. Not only will they be de-listed, but they will also be unplayable.See also: Ubisoft's The Crew, which was not only delisted, but they then went and removed it from the libraries of everyone who had purchased it, too.
I'm not even sure how that's legal, but definitely is a reminder to people that you don't own the games. And why DRM is ultimately anti-consumer.
4 Likes, Who?
Quoting: Purple Library GuyGood lord. Was there fallout? I'd be out for scalp if someone did that to me.
Quoting: slaapliedjehttps://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-is-deleting-the-crew-from-players-libraries-reminding-us-we-own-nothing-165328083.htmlAnd it happened amidst a campaign relating to both this game and the larger issue!
I'm not even sure how that's legal, but definitely is a reminder to people that you don't own the games. And why DRM is ultimately anti-consumer.
(There was a very paid-off-sounding follow-up here, too.)Alas, I haven't seen too much fallout from it, myself. If you guys don't mind me being a little blunt for a moment: Gamers are usually terrible at organising, and everyone who accepted cosmetic horse-armour is to blame for the situation we now have today - they were warned about the slippery slope and refused to listen.
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slaapliedje Jul 1
Quoting: PenglingI totally agree with this. Especially ones who have a massive library on Steam who tend to forget what they've bought about 15m after they buy it...Quoting: Purple Library GuyGood lord. Was there fallout? I'd be out for scalp if someone did that to me.Quoting: slaapliedjehttps://www.engadget.com/ubisoft-is-deleting-the-crew-from-players-libraries-reminding-us-we-own-nothing-165328083.htmlAnd it happened amidst a campaign relating to both this game and the larger issue!
I'm not even sure how that's legal, but definitely is a reminder to people that you don't own the games. And why DRM is ultimately anti-consumer.
Alas, I haven't seen too much fallout from it, myself. If you guys don't mind me being a little blunt for a moment: Gamers are usually terrible at organising, and everyone who accepted cosmetic horse-armour is to blame for the situation we now have today - they were warned about the slippery slope and refused to listen.
- Guilty here! I don't even know why I buy anything on Steam anymore, I have more than I'll ever play, not to mention 'retro' systems I can get entire libraries for... and yet, I end up playing games like Joust, Asteroids, Yars: Recharged, etc. Though recently I've been playing Dead Island 2. Wonderful game.
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StoneColdSpider Jul 2
Quoting: Purple Library GuyGood lord. Was there fallout? I'd be out for scalp if someone did that to me.Since you didnt hear about the fallout then you know the answer...... The "fallout" lasted around 48 hours and then most people forgot and moved on to the next shiny new game........
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