Thankfully, the Xbox One version of the game doesn't seem to be suffering when it comes to pre-downloading Forza Motorsport 7. The game clocks in at around 65GB on consoles, but the PC version which is upwards of 100GB (due to its 4K assets) is struggling to unpack properly for lots of people. Thankfully, Microsoft is working to repair the issues.
If you take a quick glance at the Forza subreddit or the official Forza forums, there are several threads complaining about issues with downloading the game. The problems seem to stem from the Windows 10 Store's continued inability to handle larger file sizes properly.
I spoke to a Microsoft spokesperson regarding this issue, and they acknowledged the problem, stating that there are "many" people working to fix it.
An official statement on the Forza forums states that it's only a "small" subset of customers suffering from issues, but that won't be much comfort to those struggling to download the game. Microsoft also goes on to claim that the issues are caused by "intermittent" internet connections.
We are aware that a small number of players are experiencing issues pre-downloading "Forza Motorsport 7" on Windows 10 PCs. For those affected players, this issue arises from pauses in the pre-download. This can occur with intermittent internet connections. "Forza Motorsport 7" is a massive game. We understand how frustrating it is to be blocked from pre-downloading.Your download will complete when your "Forza Motorsport 7" edition unlocks – this Friday, Sept. 29 for the Ultimate Edition or Oct. 3 for Deluxe and Standard Editions. If you have encountered this issue, we sincerely apologize.
The Windows 10 Store seems to have been suffering from various other problems recently, with even smaller apps like my own Mail & Calendar returning an "Error" message when attempting a download. But those are only smaller files. There are some horror stories out there about Forza 7's repeated download failures obliterating people's data caps.
The fact is, other game delivery services like Steam, Battle.net, and EA's Origin never suffer from these sorts of problems. While it has improved over time, if Microsoft ever wants the Windows 10 Store to be regarded as anything other than a frustrating hoop to jump through for PC gamers accustomed to Steam, the Windows 10 Store still needs boatloads of polish.
We'll keep you posted on any further updates.
