Forza Horizon 5 closed out the year with a double update, giving the team some time to return and prepare for the new year with more content. Well, it seems the plan may not be entirely what the community expected, as Forza Horizon 5's first update of 2025 may signal a shift in direction for the popular, long-running open-world racing game.
Forza Horizon 5's Midnight Muscle update brings back fan-favorite neon-lit content from a past Festival Playlist alongside two new cars, but it also debuts a different approach to future Festival Playlists. Now, players will vote on one of two past Festival Playlists to replay each month, suggesting that FH5 support is finally winding down as Playground Games turns to what's next. Of course, the studio has stated that there's still more content coming to Forza Horizon 5 in the future, so it's not totally done.
Quite possible the final full update for Forza Horizon 5
If you're expecting an ambitious changelog packed with new features, quality-of-life improvements, and more additions to the ridiculously large Forza Horizon 5 car list, I'm afraid the Midnight Muscle update is destined to disappoint you.
In fact, there's honestly not enough here to even do the bulleted list I usually do, so I'll skip that. First, the Midnight Muscle Festival Playlist brings back the extended night and neon-lit Evolving World features we saw in previous FH5 updates, with no new features to call its own. You're also looking at only two new vehicles to collect in the powerful 1995 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R and 2022 Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock.
Outside of that, Playground Games has added two new features, with the latter clearly marking a downturn in official support for FH5 moving forward. Firstly, players will now be able to choose their own start screen cinematic from past events and Forza Horizon titles, with a shuffle option for those who'd rather be surprised each time they start the game. Secondly, future Festival Playlists won't come as surprises from Playground — instead, the community will now vote on one of two past Festival Playlists to return the following month.
The first vote will be between the Forza Horizon 5 High Performance and Forza Horizon 5 Italian Automotive updates, with voting opening in week 1 of Midnight Muscle and closing in week 4 (and the process will repeat each month). Playground will tweak each Festival Playlist as needed to reflect how the game has evolved over its life, but the intent behind this feature is obvious; Forza Horizon 5 support is winding down.
You can read more about the Forza Horizon 5 "Midnight Muscle" update on Forza.net, which arrives on Jan. 28 (with the Festival Playlist kicking off on Jan. 30).
It's not completely over yet
To be clear, Playground Games does state that "there's still more content coming to Forza Horizon 5," but it's not immediately clear what that'll look like. All we can say for certain is, with the community now voting each month for a past Festival Playlist to return (you can read more about this feature on Forza.net), FH5 isn't going to get the same monthly updates it has since its launch over three years ago.
Forza Horizon 5 may not get any new cars or features, instead treading down memory lane until it wanders so far into the past that only a brand-new Forza Horizon game can bring us back. It had to happen immediately, though, as Playground Games is undoubtedly working on a mysterious sequel powered by the same engine underneath Forza Motorsport (2023). Hopefully, we'll hear more about those plans later this year.
In case you missed it, Forza Horizon 4 also ended an era of its own, with the title becoming permanently delisted from digital storefronts as its licenses expired. It's probably safe to say that Forza Horizon 5 is still many years away from this happening, even if it won't enjoy the same healthy update cycle anymore.
