Xbox Addict

Top Gear and Forza Motorsport Join Forces

The hottest name in racing games and the world’s biggest car show today announced the beginning of a long-term collaboration, kicking off with the release of Forza Motorsport 3 Ultimate Collection in October. The award-winning "Forza Motorsport" franchise is collaborating with BBC’s Top Gear team to integrate the Top Gear brand in future versions of "Forza Motorsport" products. The relationship will also deliver a number of co-promotions that aim to give fans of both "Forza Motorsport" and Top Gear a unique opportunity to engage in both brands. With "Forza Motorsport" expertise in digital automotive experiences and Top Gear’s irreverent approach to car reviews and entertainment, the collaboration promises to deliver an unrivalled experience for all keen gamers and car enthusiasts.

"Bringing together Top Gear and Forza Motorsport is a natural fit," said Dan Greenawalt, franchise director at Turn 10, the studio within Microsoft Game Studios that created and nurtures the Forza Motorsport franchise and community. "Top Gear is all about automotive passion and playing around with cars which is exactly what we deliver with Forza Motorsport games. We are looking forward to collaborating with their team to bring some of what they do so well on television to our game design process."

Fans will get their first taste of the results of this collaboration with 90 minutes of specially edited Top Gear TV content plus access to the ’Stig’s Garage Car Pack’, all downloadable exclusively through Xbox LIVE, as part of the new "Forza Motorsport 3 Ultimate Collection" available from this October.

"It’s incredibly exciting to be teaming up with such a big name game," said Andy Wilman, creative director at Top Gear. "I fear we’ll have to be a bit more ambitious and a bit less rubbish when dealing with these chaps."

Robert Nashak, Executive Vice President, Digital Entertainment, BBC Worldwide commented, "We’re thrilled to be teaming up with such innovators in motorsport gaming as Microsoft, who share our enthusiasm and vision for the Top Gear brand on this platform. Forza Motorsport is already a great game and we’re sure the features we’ve created together, using the Top Gear brand, will really excite both fans of the show and the game everywhere."

"Forza Motorsport 3 Ultimate Collection" is the complete award-winning racing title, including all previously released Game add-ons, bringing the total car count to 500 and offering more than 100 track configurations. It includes an Xbox LIVE downloadable content card giving players access to three of the hottest new cars on the market today as part of "Stig’s Garage Car Pack." These include The Koenigsegg CCX, LEXUS LFA, and Mercedes Benz SLS-AMG. In addition to the car pack, the Top Gear downloadable content will also feature an exclusive 90-minute Top Gear video from lads on Top Gear including Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May and an Xbox LIVE Theme featuring Top Gear.