Xbox One’s Forza Horizon 2 Is 1080p/30fps

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June 5, 2014

The Xbox One version of Microsoft's upcoming racing game Forza Horizon 2 will run in 1080p at 30fps, creative director at Ryan Fulton has confirmed. 2012's original Forza Horizon for Xbox 360 ran at a locked 30fps, and Fulton says it was imperative that the studio carried this forward for the sequel.

"I think what we did on Horizon was demonstrate that, and this is really important, a locked frame rate that's absolutely solid and never drops is the most important thing for our game," Fulton told IGN. "30 [frames-per-second] actually enables us to realize that experience."

Concerning visual performance, Fulton said, "I think I remember that's always a hot-button topic, until a game comes out and people go, 'Oh, this actually really works.' But 1080p was an absolute must for us; it's the benchmark for next-gen."

"1080p was an absolute must for us; it's the benchmark for next-gen -- Forza Horizon 2 creative director Ryan Fulton

By comparison, last year's Xbox One launch title Forza Motorsport 5 fan in 1080p at 60fps. Forza Horizon 2, however, is an open-world title, and this comes with its own set of technical challenges, Fulton said.

"The biggest difference [between Forza 5 and Forza Horizon 2] is that, obviously, we're an open-world streaming game," Fulton said. "We need to be able to drive in any direction at up to 270 miles an hour, if you're gonna soup up a Veyron or something like that."

"So one of the big technical challenges that we had to face was making sure that we could stream in a world that is next-gen beautiful, but fast enough to keep up with the fastest car," he added. "That's a huge tech challenge but it's one that our guys just eat up."

Also in the interview, Fulton says Forza Horizon 2 will retain the original game's focus on music. As such, he revealed that the game's soundtrack will be deeper and broader than what you heard in the original game. "Music is incredibly important to Horizon," Fulton said.

"We want a soundtrack you can explore in the same way you can explore our world," he added. "To that end we've doubled the number of radio stations in the game. We've doubled the amount of music that we’re going to be shipping with the game on disc."

Forza Horizon 2 launches this fall for Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Playground Games is developing the Xbox One version, while Sumo Digital is handling the Xbox 360 iteration.