I think it is fair to title the Forza Horizon 3 Hot Wheels Expansion as one of the most surprising announcements this year. Following its reveal a couple of weeks ago, Playground Games has now released the expansion alongside a long-awaited update for the Windows 10 PC version of the game. You can view the trailer above.
The update
If you want to know more about the content of the expansion, you may want to head here, where we covered the Hot Wheels Expansion already.
Everyone who owns Forza Horizon 3 on PC, will receive the update for free and it is completely separate from the expansion. Here is what it includes:
Wheels support
The full list of supported wheels now reads as follows:
- Logitech Driving Force GT
- Logitech MOMO Force Feedback Racing Wheel
- Logitech G920
- Logitech G29
- Logitech G25
- Logitech G27
- Fanatec ClubSport Wheel Base V1
- Fanatec CSV2
- Fanatec CSR
- Thrustmaster TS-PC
- Thrustmaster T150
- Thrustmaster T500 RS
- Thrustmaster TMX V1
- Thrustmaster TMX V2
- Thrustmaster T300RS
- Thrustmaster TX 458 Edition
- Thrustmaster TX 599 Edition
- Thrustmaster TX Leather Edition
- Thrustmaster TX F1 Edition
- Thrustmaster TX GTE Edition
- Thrustmaster RGT
Performance
Microsoft heard of many people experiencing CPU limitations when running on higher settings. To solve the problem, the number of concurrent threads has been increased and the developers have “taken further advantage of DX12 capabilities”. As a result, “a significant CPU performance gain on High or Ultra settings” can now be experienced when running the game on suitable hardware.
Furthermore, the thread model has been reworked, to make better use of the available cores. You can switch between the new and the old model in the Video Settings menu under “Threaded Optimization” and decide for yourself which one you like better.
Graphics
Now, this one is especially interesting. A lot of optimisation was done towards lower end PC’s by introducing a “Very Low” Option to the Dynamic Geometry Quality and the World Car Level of Detail, resulting in a new “Very Low” graphics preset.
All graphical options have now received updated descriptions as well, explaining how the different options will affect performance.
Thanks to the graphical optimisation, the overall minimum requirements could be lowered and now read as follows:
Minimum Specification
CPU – i3-4170 @ 3.7Ghz
GPU – NVIDIA GT 740 | AMD R7 250x
VRAM – 2GB GDDR5
RAM – 8GB
Hard Drive Type HDD
Resolution – 1280 x 720
Should you already be in possession of the Expansion Pass, then you will receive the Hot Wheels Expansion for free. If you only own Forza Horizon 3, then the expansion is available at a price of 19.99 USD, 19.99 EUR, 16.74 GBP.
Below, you can view some screenshots from the expansion.
