After about six years and a couple of entries in the Forza Horizon series, Forza Motorsport is making a comeback this year. The sim-racing franchise, focused on realism and professional tracks, will be one of Xbox's 2023 heavy hitters, but I'd been wondering what's actually new for this entry. As a long-time racing enthusiast dating back to the first Gran Turismo, I've seen how the genre has evolved and, at points, stagnated. But from what I've seen so far, Forza Motorsport is fine-tuning the racing sim formula in smart ways by dialing in on two major areas: its career mode's gameplay loop and its driver AI behavior.

Following the Xbox Games Showcase during Summer Game Fest, I was able to get a hands-off demo of Forza Motorsport and see the new sim racer in action. The emphasis was on the Builder's Cup Series, which is a career-style mode filled with racing events featuring certain conditions, restrictions, and challenges, as your typical sim-racing campaign would have. The key difference is in how progression works.

Instead of racing to rack up money to spend on upgrades, you earn credits called Car Points, which is akin to XP or skill points in an RPG. Your allotment of Car Points lets you pick and choose which upgrades you want for your car without having to commit to them since you're not necessarily "purchasing" parts. Using certain car parts means spending Car Points to equip them, but if you switch it out to a better part or back to stock, you get the Car Points back. It's like being able to respec your character in an RPG without consequence. You're effectively creating a "build" for your car in the RPG sense, letting you spec out your car without buyer's remorse.