A new Forza Horizon 5 patch update is available with lots of online fixes and improvements

What you need to know

• Forza Horizon 5 has been plagued with a variety of bugs since launch, especially its online portions.
• Playground Games is committed to fixing and improving its open-world racing game with post-launch patches and hotfixes.
• On Friday, the studio released the Dec. 3, 2021 patch update for Forza Horizon 5, which includes a ton of changes.
• Alongside the myriad of bug fixes, all players will receive 1,000 Forzathon Points after installing this update for their patience.

Forza Horizon 5 has actually been one of the most stable and polished "AAA" gaming experiences released in 2021, but its online portions and game modes have still been plagued with a plethora of bugs and issues. Playground Games is dedicated to continually improving Forza Horizon 5 over time with new updates and additions, which starts with ensuring the game is as smooth as possible. On Friday, Playground released a new Forza Horizon 5 patch update, with plenty of fixes the community has been waiting on for weeks.

The first Forza Horizon 5 hotfix update did bring noticeable improvements to the overall experience, especially with online, but there was still a lot of problems that needed resolving. This patch update certainly won't be the last bug fixing release for FH5, but it does include a larger number of changes and tweaks for areas of the game like stability, online multiplayer, cars and audio, and Accolades.

The Dec. 3, 2021 patch update is now rolling out to Forza Horizon 5 players on all platforms, including Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC (including Steam), and anywhere you play through Xbox Game Pass. On Xbox Series X, the patch update is approximately ~14GB in size. It's highly recommended that you install this patch update as soon as possible before returning to FH5.

Playground is also rewarding the FH5 community for their patience in waiting for these fixes by gifting all players who download the patch update and log in 1,000 Forzathon Points, which can be spent at the Forzathon Shop through the Forza Horizon 5 Festival Playlist.

In our Forza Horizon 5 review, we concluded that Playground Games has delivered the unchallenged champion of open-world racers, and is the quintessential choice on our list of best Xbox racing games. If you want to learn more about this excellent game and everything it has to offer, be sure to check out our ultimate guide to Forza Horizon 5.

The full changelog for Forza Horizon 5's Dec. 3, 2021 patch update includes:

Bug fixes

Game stability

• Various stability fixes
• Fixed crash that could occur when loading Chapter 6 in the Born Fast Horizon Story
• Fixed crash that could occur when replaying the Canyon Expedition
• Fixed a soft lock which could occur during the Baja Expedition

Multiplayer

• Improvements for an issue where convoy members and other players can disappear
• Horizon Open — Reduced the amount of races in Open Racing events before a car change, from 5 to 3
• Horizon Open — Removed The Goliath from pool to prevent long wait for race completion
• Horizon Open — Street Race routes will now be at night
• Horizon Open — Removed S2 Cross Country races from rotation
• Horizon Open — Fixed issue with scoring HUD in Open Drifting
• Eliminator — Randomised position of Eliminator car drops
• Fixed an issue where searching for a convoy via 'Find a Convoy' could result in an infinite load
• Convoy leaders accepting a Forza LINK invite now accepts for the whole convoy
• Convoy icon on Player Label in the map has been updated to be more readable
• Horizon Arcade — Score target now scales based on number of participants
• Horizon Arcade — Fixed an issue where convoy members were seeing different score totals
• Horizon Arcade — Prioritise grouping players in larger groups when event starts
• Horizon Arcade — Increased the time at which a Horizon Arcade event radius will appear on the map ahead of it starting to 10 minutes
• Horizon Arcade — Adjusted completion requirements for some Horizon Arcade events
• Horizon Arcade — Fixed issue where finding a Barn Find during a Horizon Arcade event could leave players in a bad game state
• Horizon Arcade — Fixed issue where Horizon Arcade Mini Missions HUD wouldn't show players when next mission is starting
• Horizon Arcade — Added unique icons for each Horizon Arcade game type on the map
• Horizon Arcade — Fixed an issue where some ramps might not appear during Horizon Arcade bullseye events
• Horizon Arcade — Reduced the completion requirements as part of Festival Playlist
• Made car restrictions for Horizon Tour clearer
• Fixed issue where beating a record in Rivals and Series Rivals wouldn't provide a new rival in the post-race screen
• Fixed issue where players could see incorrect points total in Playground Games events when a player left
• Fixed issue where no traffic was present for online street races
• Fixed issue with destination pin when playing expeditions in co-op
• Fixed issue with AI cars disappearing when playing expeditions in co-op

Wheel compatibility

• Fixed an issue where button prompts were not appearing for users with a Logitech G920

Exploits

• Fixed an issue where players could tune their car to a higher class vehicle before starting a race
• Fixed an issue where times from Blueprint events could be erroneously posted to the leaderboard for the race at that location
• Fixed an issue where players were able to post to Rivals and PR Stunt leaderboards when using modified game speed settings

PC

• Fixed issue where Pause Menu could show two tabs at once when changing focus away from the game and unpausing with a controller
• Fixed issue where mouse input was being ignored in the Horizon Story Post Race Stars screen
• Stopped mouse being able to move the camera during Pre-Race cinematic
• Fixed an issue where low video memory warning could be displayed incorrectly on AMD Renoir
• Fixed an issue where running at 3440x1440 resolution would cause graphical artefacts on the screen edge
• Improved messaging around out of date drivers

Cars

• '98 Toyota Supra RZ — Corrected window trim issue and various other fixes to upgrade parts
• Added Freeroam Convertible functionality to the Willys Jeep, Lamborghini Gallardo LP570 Spyder and Porsche 918 Spyder
• '18 BMW M5 — Corrected colour in front left brake calliper
• '70 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler - Stock brakes can't be painted
• Fixed DeLorean logo on Car Collection screen
• Reduced Transmission whine on stock car audio
• Updated the engine audio for the Porsche 918 Spyder

Accolades

• Fixed an issue where some completed Accolades could reset to being incomplete
• Fixed an issue with Accolades for photographing the statues in the El Camino story not unlocking
• Fixed an issue where the Accolade for taking a short cut in the final Lucha De Carreteras story chapter would not unlock
• Fixed "Raised in the Desert" not requiring the player to be in the designated car
• Fixed "Unlimited Power" description to say Unlimited Off-road rather than Extreme Off-road
• Fixed "Ready, Set, Go!" unlocking if player lost the race
• Removed some Accolades which could become incompletable which required the player to complete a PR Stunt in a specific car
• Corrected typo on the "A True Advantage" description from 2018 to 2019 Aston Martin Vantage
• Fixed "Ford of the Wings" where the objective wouldn't appear when pinned
• Fixed issue where "Monster Destroyer" would not complete if the player wins after a restart
• Updated the "Canyon Run" accolades to use the correct name
• Corrected the number of air skills required for the "Air in a G Wagon" Accolade
• Fixed an issue with the "Unbeatable Dirt Racing" Accolade counting progress incorrectly
• Fixed "Money to Burn" Accolade directing players to wrong drift zone
• Updated "Don't Break It, There Isn't Many Left" Accolade to inform player of danger sign they need to complete
• Fixed issue where pinning Accolades for some danger signs would not set the route correctly
• Added ability to jump to rewards in the Accolade menus

Super7

• Super7 second pre event screen now shows Title and Description rather than the Creator and Description
• Fixed issue in Super7 where players can experience a long load if creating a challenge far from a road
• Fixed issue where Super7 challenge props wouldn't load after publishing
• Fixed issue where player could stop getting new Super7 challenges
• Removed an incorrect VO line from playing when returning to Freeroam from Super7

Other

• Fixed an issue where Seasonal PR Stunts would state 1mph / 1ft / 1m more required despite meeting the completion criteria
• EventLab — Props will now appear as the colour variant selected before being placed
• Removed some erroneous props present in the stadium when creating EventLab events
• Fixed an issue where players could not see their own Events in Event Blueprints menu
• Changed "Place" variable in Rules of Play to "Rank" to be more representative
• Fixed issue in Blueprint Builder where prop thumbnail wouldn't appear
• Altered the flow of the Forza LINK tutorial to avoid players with custom control mappings getting stuck
• Added scrolling delay to long Forza LINK phrases to help with legibility
• Fixed an issue with Forza LINK when sending "Follow me" in reply to the barn find request not setting a route
• Rewinding during a showcase could cause the game to ignore the offline game speed accessibility setting
• Infiniti Car Collection now awards the "STONKS" Forza LINK phrase
• Fixed issue where player would get spawned in the wrong location when replaying Expeditions
• Added accessibility option to progress Horizon Stories without completing the proceeding challenges
• Fixed Hall of Fame banners not prioritising friends who had joined the Hall of Fame
• Fixed various bad Fast Travel points which could leave the player stuck
• Fixed an issue where the Lugar Tranquilo player home could become locked again after having purchased it
• Fixed player labels showing the wrong PI on the map
• Marathon icon no longer overlaps the Horizon Street Scene outpost icon on the map
• Change map filters to include the Eliminator map icon under multiplayer events, rather than Festival sites
• Fixed camera clipping through scenery during post-race results cinematic
• Fixed issues with clipping on various clothing items in character creator
• Fixed issue with price displaying incorrectly for Car Pass and Premium Add-Ons Bundle in Steam
• Fixed an issue where Festival Playlist displayed more points earned than are achievable
• Fixed prestige stars not appearing in online leaderboards
• Added the Ability to 'View Eligible Cars' on Seasonal PR Stunts in the Festival Playlist screen
• Made the final checkpoint in street race events visually distinct from normal checkpoints
• Made it so that the Add Layer feature in the Livery Editor now correctly adds the layer to the top of the stack
• Fixed Achievement tracking for the "Unlimited Prowess" Achievement
• Fixed an issue where players were able to skip the whole race in Chapter 2 of Lucha de Carreteras
• Fixed an issue where the radio could be turned back on after turning it off
• Updated Fast Travel message from pause menu to correctly inform player it will take them to the nearest Festival site
• Fixed an issue where players could be switched from manual to automatic gears after a cutscene