Developer Turn 10’s Forza Motorsport 5 racing sim is an excellent driving game with some questionable uses of microtransactions. This Xbox One game features an alternative currency called tokens that players can buy with real money, and they can then use those tokens to buy cars … and some cars can cost more than $10 in tokens.
Fans weren’t too happy with this, and now Turn 10 is making some changes to Forza’s economy to address their concerns.
“Your Turn 10 team continues to value the input of our Forza community, and we keep a careful eye on in-game data that shows how players progress through our games,” Turn 10 community manager Brian Ekberg wrote in a blog post. “Based on the numbers we’ve seen from our first week of Forza Motorsport 5, as well as feedback we heard directly from you, we’re in the process of making some changes to the Forza Motorsport 5 economy.”
These changes are manifold. Starting Friday, Turn 10 will enact a 50 percent discount for every car across the board. That means every car will cost half the number of tokens and credits (the virtual currency players earn by actually playing the game). Although, this discount is only good for two days.
“We’re dramatically increasing the credit payout available to all Forza players in December via Forza Rewards, our ongoing loyalty program that rewards players with credits and cars for playing Forza games,” Ekberg writes. “You’ll be able to redeem these rewards in December, but here’s a tip: The higher your Tier level reaches before December rolls around, the better the rewards you’ll be able to redeem, so get your play time in now and level up.”
For Forza Motorsport VIP members, they will get a 2013 Lotus E21 Grand Prix car for free. For Forza Motorsport VIP members that already purchased the Lotus E21, they will get a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO.
Players who purchased the LeFerrari Car Pack or Forza Motorsport 5 Car Pass will get the 2013 LaFerrari (which isn’t included in those premium downloadable-content packs) for free.
Finally, Turn 10 is also addressing an issue with customers who purchased the Forza Motorsport 5 Limited Edition.
“In our original description for Forza Motorsport 5’s Limited Edition, we told you that Limited Edition owners would get 1,250 in-game tokens, which we mistakenly said would be enough tokens to afford any car in the Forza 5,” wrote Ekberg. “It isn’t. As a result, a number of you have pointed out to us that there are a number of cars in the game that cost more than 1,250 tokens to purchase.
“We’re sorry. In order to make up for this discrepancy, we will soon be offering Forza Motorsport 5 Limited Edition owners the chance to download and own the car of their choice in the game.”
Turn 10 will set up a special page on ForzaMotorsport.net where Limited Edition owners can go to redeem any on-disc car in Forza 5. The developer plans to have this program up and running no later than Dec. 16.
Forza publisher Microsoft Studios has a few other Xbox One games that feature similar in-app purchases. Ryse: Son of Rome, Powerstar Golf, and Crimson Dragon all feature alternative-currency mechanics that were first popularized by free-to-play mobile and social games.