Forza Motorsport 7 release date, trailers and news

Update: Forza Motorsport 7 has been officially released and our review is here. Read it in full to see if you should jump in Turn10's latest ride or hail a taxi to the next big release.

Original article continues below...

Onstage at E3 2017 Microsoft officially announced the next entry in its long-running racing series, Forza Motorsport 7. The game will release later this year on October 3 and will be available for Xbox One, Xbox One X and Windows 10.

The best part is that this racing sim is built for 4K, with more realistic graphics, which goes a long way to further detail its amazing-looking 700 cars.

Read on below for everything we know about the upcoming game, which includes dynamic weather, full PC support, and, for the first time, drivers that are able to step outside of their cars.

Cut to the chase

What is it? The next in Microsoft’s excellent racing sim series
When it is out? October 3, 2017
What platforms will it be on? Xbox One, Xbox One X and PC

Forza Motorsport 7 trailers and images

At E3 2017 Microsoft unveiled the game's debut trailer. Check it out below.

Forza Motorsport 7 release date

Forzo Motorsport 7 will launch on October 3 on the Xbox One and Windows 10.

Although the game will support the Xbox One X, where it will run in 4K at 60fps, you'll have to wait until November 7 to play this version since this is when the console launches.

Forza Motorsport 7 confirmed features

Microsoft has unveiled a whole host of features for the game, which include dynamic weather, support for numerous input devices, and driver avatars than can step outside of the vehicle.

Dynamic weather

For the first time in the series, in Forza Motorsport 7 the weather will change during your race.

Clouds will move across the sky, casting moving reflections on the surface of the track. The game looks particularly impressive on the Xbox One X, where the HDR is used to create a blinding light as the sun breaks through the cloud cover.

The changing weather will also have an impact on the feel of your race.

What can start with overcast clouds can quickly turn into torrential rain, which will eventually form dynamic rain puddles on the track, affecting the handling of your car.

However, the game's creative director was keen to emphasize that Xbox One S owners would not get a compromised experience, and that features such as dynamic weather would still be available on the lower-end console.

With Forza Motorsport 7 being the first game in the series to come to PCs, the developer said it was keen to support as many different USB devices as possible.

This means that you'll be able to use a variety of USB steering wheels, but you'll also be able to plug in wheels designed for the PS4.

Controller support will also extend to the DualShock 4.

The game's creative director confirmed that the team have even experimented with supporting USB guitar peripherals, but stopped short of promising that this functionality would make it into the final game.

Once playing Forza Motorsport 7, the game's visuals can be customized to reflect the fact that you're playing with a wheel. If you're playing from the game's cockpit view, you can toggle the in-game steering wheel on and off if you'd like a more realistic view when using your own physical wheel.

Xbox One X support

The game has been used prominently to show off Microsoft's upcoming console where it will run in Ultra HD at 60 frames per second.

However, the game's creative director was keen to emphasise that Xbox One S owners would not get a compromised experience, and that features such as dynamic weather would still be available on the lower-end console.

Mixer spectating

The game will be fully integrated with Microsoft's streaming service Mixer, and will offer race spectating through the service.

Streaming music from OneDrive

Turn 10 has confirmed that it will be possible to stream music in-game from your OneDrive account.

Interestingly you'll also be able to have your music play in-game from speakers based around the track if you'd rather not break the game's immersion by having it play over the top of the experience.

It's got big files and it cannot lie

For some time the online rumor mill was suggesting that Forza Motorsport 7's file size would be as much as 100GB and now we know that the number won't be far off that at all.

It's been confirmed that Forza 7 will be a 95GB game. That's pretty big. For those buying the physical game, 45 of the gigabytes will be on the game's disc while the final 50GB will be in the form of a download.

According to Turn 10 the game can actually be played from the disc alone, without downloading the additional 50GB. However, though those who play from the disc alone will save space on their hard drives, Turn 10 did say that they'd miss out on “a wealth of new Forza Driver’s Cup content, including new competitive and Showcase events, as well as new trophies and Driver Gear rewards.”

So, though you don't necessarily have to clear out that 50GB of hard drive space, you're probably going to want to.

Xbox One X owners can look forward to another big update when the game's 4K patch is released alongside the console on November 7, though the actual size of this update is still to be confirmed.