A Reddit poster claims that Microsoft's just released Xbox One version of the open-world driving game Forza Horizon 3 allowed him to race with the drivatar of his late friend who passed away in 2015.
The Reddit post from gamer "Spartansneverdie" (via Polygon) states:
So I am just cruising the Coast when I see a XBL name i haven't seen in a while. It was my buddy Drew. Sadly Drew passed away about a year ago. He was only 19 years old. Anyways i see his driveatar, I Immediately pull up behind him and challenge him to a race. It was pretty surreal it was like i was playing with him again on xbox. It was bittersweet, but just another reason to love this game. Thank you for bringing me that moment with him.
Drivatars are AI-based "ghosts" of gamers that use their real racing styles and history to simulate their actions when they are not online, so any friend can race against them. The feature was first introduced in Forza Motorsport 5 in 2013, and uploaded drivatars can also appear in other Forza-based games.
Since Spartansneverdie's Reddit post went live, many people have said his story is similar to one posted a few years ago by an anonymous YouTube commenter. He claimed he was able to race against his late father, 10 years after his death, by racing against his ghost car that was stored in the Microsoft-published RalliSport Challenge, made for the original Xbox. That story was later dramatized into an acclaimed YouTube short film called Player Two. Spartansneverdie states, "I hadn't heard about that till i posted this and someone linked it. Its stories like these that make gaming truly special."
