Forza Horizon Revs its Engine and Speeds Towards an Action-packed Launch on 26 October
Car lovers and racing enthusiasts alike have multiple ways to get behind the wheel, win prizes and celebrate the launch of the latest Forza game
LONDON – 04 October, 2012 – As Forza Horizon races towards the chequered flag, Microsoft, Playground Games and Turn 10 have announced a stunning line-up of launch activities for car and music fans before the game hits stores on 26th October 2012 exclusively on Xbox 360.
#EscapeTheGrid
The action begins with #EscapeTheGrid, a full throttled four day road trip starting on 23rd October, with 10 supercars competing in a series of challenges en route France to the UK. The convoy will begin their journey at the Paris Forza Horizon Gymkhana competition, and end at Top Gear Live in Birmingham on 26th October, where the winning car will be announced and six of the vehicles will be put on display in the supercar gallery.
Furthermore, there will be daily competitions on Xbox.com and @XboxUK to win prizes, and fans can submit questions to the Playground Games development team, as well as interact with and follow the cars by using #EscapeTheGrid hashtag on Twitter. You can also vote for your favourite car on the XboxUK Facebook page. To learn more, visit www.xbox.com/forzahorizon starting 8th October.
Forza Horizon Festival
Bringing the game’s setting to life, the Forza Horizon Festival takes car lovers and music fans on the ultimate virtual road trip. At various locations around the UK (Manchester, London, Newcastle and Birmingham), branded billboards with QR codes will give fans the opportunity to be in with the chance of winning free music downloads and tickets to the Forza Horizon Festival – an exclusive gig at London’s Fabric nightclub, featuring DJ Fresh, Ms. Dynamite and Skepta on 25th October – the eve of the game’s launch.
For those who miss out on winning tickets to the Festival, all of the ear-thumping action will be hosted exclusively on Last.fm at http://originals.last.fm and via the Last.fm app on Xbox LIVE immediately following the gig.
Top Gear Live
Car lovers and show fans missing Clarkson, Hammond, May and The Stig, can also get behind of wheel of Forza Horizon at Top Gear Live, taking place at Birmingham’s NEC from 25th-28th October. Featuring a combined indoor track and arena, plus an exhibition, a cavalcade of the world’s great supercars will be on show, including a 50 years of James Bond tribute featuring Aston Martins.
Visitors can stop by the Xbox booth to play Forza Horizon, set the fastest times in the game and win prizes. Additionally as part of the #EscapeTheGrid activity, Xbox will also be giving Forza fans the chance to win Platinum tickets to the show – a car lover’s dream.
Visit www.xbox.com/forzahorizon to enter to win.
“Forza Horizon” will be available in the UK on 26 October in a Limited Collector’s Edition (£59.99 ERP) and a Standard Edition (£49.99 ERP), both available for pre-order now. The game is rated PEGI 12.
-ENDS-
For Xbox specialist media enquiries, please contact:
Dominic Carey / 01189 095334 / v-docare@microsoft.com
For Xbox consumer media enquiries, please contact:
Baz Singh / 020 3047 4024 / baz_singh@jcpr.com
You can follow us on Twitter @XboxUK
About Xbox 360
Xbox 360 is a premier home entertainment and video game system. With the addition of Kinect, Xbox 360 will forever transform social gaming and entertainment with a whole new way to play — no controller required. Xbox 360 is also home to the best and broadest games as well as the largest on demand library of music, standard and high definition movies, TV shows and digital games, all in one place. The entertainment centre of the living room, Xbox 360 blends unbeatable content with a network of nearly 40 million Xbox LIVE members to create a limitless entertainment experience that can be shared at home or across the globe. More information about Xbox 360 can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/.
About Xbox LIVE
Xbox LIVE is the online entertainment service for your Xbox 360, connecting you to an ever expanding world of games, movies, music, sports and social entertainment. Xbox LIVE lets you play the best games, enjoy the largest on demand library on any console, listen to millions of songs and share the fun with friends around the world. Xbox LIVE is now also available on Windows Phone 7 putting the power of connected entertainment in the palm of your hand. Xbox LIVE is the exclusive home of controller free online entertainment through Kinect, making your Xbox 360 more intuitive and interactive than ever before. With an active community of nearly 40 million people across 35 countries, Xbox LIVE provides you with instant access to the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about. More information about Xbox LIVE can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/live.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Centre at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx
About Top Gear Live
Offering a variation on more traditional motor shows Top Gear Live brings the spirit of the TV programme to the live events arena allowing fans to immerse themselves in their passion for Top Gear and motoring in general. Starring Jeremy Clarkson, James May, Richard Hammond and The Stig the event features a combined indoor track and arena plus an exhibition. Top Gear Live has been running world tours since 2008 entertaining over one million visitors. Note: the format of the event and presenter line-up can vary in different countries.
Top Gear Live runs from 25-28 October 2012 at NEC Birmingham. Tickets are on sale and prices start at just £49*. For more information about the show or to book tickets visit topgearlive.co.uk or call 0871 230 5588
Top Gear Live is a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Brand Events Ltd, who are running the event in the UK jointly with Clarion Events Ltd.
About Last.fm
Founded in 2002, Last.fm is CBS Corporation’s (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) global music discovery service and is part of the CBS Interactive Music Group. Last.fm intelligently recommends users new music, personalised radio and concerts, connecting music lovers from around the globe. Last.fm’s unique 'scrobbling' technology lets users keep a record of what they listen to from over 600 music players. Last.fm harnesses 70 billion pieces of music taste information to recommend music to almost 40 million users across 12 languages in more than 200 countries. Learn more at: www.last.fm
#EscapeTheGrid
The action begins with #EscapeTheGrid, a full throttled four day road trip starting on 23rd October, with 10 supercars competing in a series of challenges en route France to the UK. The convoy will begin their journey at the Paris Forza Horizon Gymkhana competition, and end at Top Gear Live in Birmingham on 26th October, where the winning car will be announced and six of the vehicles will be put on display in the supercar gallery.
Furthermore, there will be daily competitions on Xbox.com and @XboxUK to win prizes, and fans can submit questions to the Playground Games development team, as well as interact with and follow the cars by using #EscapeTheGrid hashtag on Twitter. You can also vote for your favourite car on the XboxUK Facebook page. To learn more, visit www.xbox.com/forzahorizon starting 8th October.
Forza Horizon Festival
Bringing the game’s setting to life, the Forza Horizon Festival takes car lovers and music fans on the ultimate virtual road trip. At various locations around the UK (Manchester, London, Newcastle and Birmingham), branded billboards with QR codes will give fans the opportunity to be in with the chance of winning free music downloads and tickets to the Forza Horizon Festival – an exclusive gig at London’s Fabric nightclub, featuring DJ Fresh, Ms. Dynamite and Skepta on 25th October – the eve of the game’s launch.
For those who miss out on winning tickets to the Festival, all of the ear-thumping action will be hosted exclusively on Last.fm at http://originals.last.fm and via the Last.fm app on Xbox LIVE immediately following the gig.
Top Gear Live
Car lovers and show fans missing Clarkson, Hammond, May and The Stig, can also get behind of wheel of Forza Horizon at Top Gear Live, taking place at Birmingham’s NEC from 25th-28th October. Featuring a combined indoor track and arena, plus an exhibition, a cavalcade of the world’s great supercars will be on show, including a 50 years of James Bond tribute featuring Aston Martins.
Visitors can stop by the Xbox booth to play Forza Horizon, set the fastest times in the game and win prizes. Additionally as part of the #EscapeTheGrid activity, Xbox will also be giving Forza fans the chance to win Platinum tickets to the show – a car lover’s dream.
Visit www.xbox.com/forzahorizon to enter to win.
“Forza Horizon” will be available in the UK on 26 October in a Limited Collector’s Edition (£59.99 ERP) and a Standard Edition (£49.99 ERP), both available for pre-order now. The game is rated PEGI 12.
-ENDS-
For Xbox specialist media enquiries, please contact:
Dominic Carey / 01189 095334 / v-docare@microsoft.com
For Xbox consumer media enquiries, please contact:
Baz Singh / 020 3047 4024 / baz_singh@jcpr.com
You can follow us on Twitter @XboxUK
About Xbox 360
Xbox 360 is a premier home entertainment and video game system. With the addition of Kinect, Xbox 360 will forever transform social gaming and entertainment with a whole new way to play — no controller required. Xbox 360 is also home to the best and broadest games as well as the largest on demand library of music, standard and high definition movies, TV shows and digital games, all in one place. The entertainment centre of the living room, Xbox 360 blends unbeatable content with a network of nearly 40 million Xbox LIVE members to create a limitless entertainment experience that can be shared at home or across the globe. More information about Xbox 360 can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/.
About Xbox LIVE
Xbox LIVE is the online entertainment service for your Xbox 360, connecting you to an ever expanding world of games, movies, music, sports and social entertainment. Xbox LIVE lets you play the best games, enjoy the largest on demand library on any console, listen to millions of songs and share the fun with friends around the world. Xbox LIVE is now also available on Windows Phone 7 putting the power of connected entertainment in the palm of your hand. Xbox LIVE is the exclusive home of controller free online entertainment through Kinect, making your Xbox 360 more intuitive and interactive than ever before. With an active community of nearly 40 million people across 35 countries, Xbox LIVE provides you with instant access to the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about. More information about Xbox LIVE can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/live.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Centre at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx
About Top Gear Live
Offering a variation on more traditional motor shows Top Gear Live brings the spirit of the TV programme to the live events arena allowing fans to immerse themselves in their passion for Top Gear and motoring in general. Starring Jeremy Clarkson, James May, Richard Hammond and The Stig the event features a combined indoor track and arena plus an exhibition. Top Gear Live has been running world tours since 2008 entertaining over one million visitors. Note: the format of the event and presenter line-up can vary in different countries.
Top Gear Live runs from 25-28 October 2012 at NEC Birmingham. Tickets are on sale and prices start at just £49*. For more information about the show or to book tickets visit topgearlive.co.uk or call 0871 230 5588
Top Gear Live is a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Brand Events Ltd, who are running the event in the UK jointly with Clarion Events Ltd.
About Last.fm
Founded in 2002, Last.fm is CBS Corporation’s (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) global music discovery service and is part of the CBS Interactive Music Group. Last.fm intelligently recommends users new music, personalised radio and concerts, connecting music lovers from around the globe. Last.fm’s unique 'scrobbling' technology lets users keep a record of what they listen to from over 600 music players. Last.fm harnesses 70 billion pieces of music taste information to recommend music to almost 40 million users across 12 languages in more than 200 countries. Learn more at: www.last.fm