Forza Horizon 5. Photo: Xbox Game Studios
An upcoming racing game uses Mexico as a backdrop and spotlights several Mexican artists and characters throughout the experience.
Why it matters: "Forza Horizon 5", scheduled for release Nov. 9 by UK-based Playground Games, is the latest game to hire consultants and local artists to craft a culturally sensitive experience around Latino themes.
Details: FH5 is the fifth "Forza Horizon" title and twelfth main installment in the simulation racing game "Forza" series set in fictional representations of real-world areas.
- The video game takes users through Mexico's diverse landscape, from the mountainous tropical area, through traditional plazas, to the desert and Indigenous ruins.
- Mexican actors perform voices of characters and developers sought to create an experience for users that feels authentic as in other Forza games set in Italy and England.
- FH5 will be available on Xbox Series X|S consoles, Xbox One, PC and through Xbox's cloud gaming service.
The intrigue: Developers sent reference crews to Mexico for landscape, weather, and audio capture for the game.
- But with travel restrictions due to the pandemic, developers relied on consultants and writers like Lalo Alcaraz, a Mexican American cartoonist and movie consultant.
- Developers also enlisted artists like Farid Rueda, born to a family of farmers in the state of Morelos, who weaved Indigenous-inspired images into his murals that are seen throughout the game.
- Muralist Raul Urias also integrated art for his home state of Chihuahua in pieces that are seen during races.
What they're saying: "We've got a campaign that really leans into these feelings of adventure, discovery, and exploration as players set out across Mexico. They're gonna have an absolute blast," creative director Mike Brown tells Axios.
- Brown said it was important to develop a game that players in Mexico would feel is representative, from recognizing park benches near their homes to spotting popular rivers and mountains that feel authentic.
- "This game is about driving, about discovering things. It's not about violence, although you can drive through a nopal patch or a saguaro at 100 miles an hour and completely destroy it," Alcaraz said.
Our thought bubble: A couple of big gaming releases are tied to Latin American countries this season, Axios' Gaming newsletter co-author Stephen Totilo reports.
- One of the biggest releases, Far Cry 6, is set in a fictionalized version of Cuba amid guerrilla fighting.
- Some gamers are skeptical that new games will accurately represent their culture, after years of releases that have mangled Spanish, Arabic, and other languages not commonly spoken by major game developers.
Don't forget: Alcaraz served as a consulting producer for the Disney animated feature film "Coco" and helped save the project after Disney tried to trademark Dia de los Muertos.