Turn 10 is Banking on the Forza Hub Keeping Racers Immersed
The PR side of the modern video game series has never been a more complex or competitive scene and when it comes to racing games that reality is ten times more extreme - particularly considering the hotly divided loyalties in the gamer community.
That combination of competition and loyalty may be why the folks over at Turn 10 decided not to take any chances when it came to promoting its Motorsport series, or keeping its fan base close.
The wizards behind Forza Motorsports and Forza Horizon racing game series' have created a new focal point that is clearly intended to function as the hub of its online social community - which is likely how the service got its name: Forza Hub -- and how it ended up being fully integrated into each of the games in the two core series.
The Forza Rewards Replacement
Fans of Turn 10's racing games will doubtlessly remember the earlier rewards scheme that was used to both assess participation and progress and deliver rewards to regular players - a very loyal fan base that the wizards at Turn 10 christened “The Forza Faithful.”
While Forza Rewards was a great idea, its implementation left a lot to be desired for. In fact it was problematic in more than just the obvious, as it was a stand-alone service that was not integrated into the games.What that meant in simple terms was that the players both had to remember to log into that web-based service at least once each month, but also needed to remember to “claim” their rewards after doing so. The reason for that was that using the website just delivered the reward message to each respective game - in order to actually collect the reward the player had to claim it in each game.
Add to this ungainly structure the qualification that each month's rewards were on a timer - which meant that even if the player remembered to log into the Rewards website and claim their reward for the month, if they failed to remember to actually load each of the games, read the message that was sent in the in-game mail system, and then fully claim the reward (download it via that message) before the time limit ran out, they could end up losing the rewards.
Clearly something had to change.
The New Forza Hub
In place of the web-based Forza Rewards scheme Turn 10 instead created a Hub-Based scheme that leverages the actual LIVE network as its home base.
What is more, the new Forza Hub is fully integrated into every title in the Forza games series - including the smaller expansion titles like Forza Horizon's newest expansion, the stand-alone Forza Horizon Presents: Fast and Furious.
With that integration came a messaging system to remind the player when rewards were available, and that made it very unlikely that potentially valuable rewards would go both unclaimed and unappreciated!
Forza Hub is not merely a scheme for delivering the monthly rewards either - as in addition to filling that role, it also provides instant access to the following integrated services:
Reward Cars
Reward Money
News Updates
Holiday Specials
Event Updates
Community Creations
Special Offers
New Car Packs
Contests
If that is not sufficient in terms of content the Hub system is also used to promote holiday and special events, and other things.
Accessing the Hub
The method for access is slightly different for each game in the series...
Forza Motorsport 4 & 5 and Horizon -- The Forza Hub is accessed as an App within Xbox LIVE called, appropriately, The Forza Hub. Players access the App at the start of each month (or any time in the month as it is updated on the 1st of each month) with refreshed access to all of its features, including:
My Forza - an overview of the Gamertag Record with rewards notice and friend comparison.
Last Rewards Tier - with full summary of your standing in each Forza Title.
Rewards Claim - Issuing the Rewards for FM4, FM5, Horizon and Horizon 2
Forza Hub Welcome - Summary of all the rewards you have received plus special pack news.
News & Events - The most current news across all of the franchise properties.
Galleries - Turn 10 Picks, Community Photos, Friend's Photos, and Your Photos.
Games - The hubs for each franchise, including direct access to Add-Ons.
Forza Horizon 2 -- Accessed from within the Main Menu System from the Community sub-tab, the Hub offers players money rewards based on Tier Level as well as special cars.
Forza Horizon Presents: The Fast and Furious -- Integrated into the Main Menu System for Fast and Furious accessing the Forza Hub is as easy as accessing the World Map in the game.
Considering that the rewards that are obtained via the new Forza Hub are Free, and substantial, and include both money and rare cars, it is clearly worth taking advantage of!
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