Forza Motorsport Finally Races Onto PC With Forza Motorsport 6: Apex

The simulation racing juggernaut Forza Motorsport will be heading into PC territory for the first time in the form of Forza Motorsport 6: Apex. Announced at a private press event in San Francisco last week, Apex will be a curated and free experience made primarily for bringing in new players from the PC world into the Forza community.

Considering that Turn 10 Studios could have simply made a full retail port of Forza Motorsport 6, Apex is a curious approach which the developer justified during a guided hands-off demo of the game. First off, they realized the potential of free content, particularly with the free Fast and the Furious weekend for Forza Horizon 2 which bolstered the number of their active users. More than that, they wish to show the power of Windows 10 as a viable gaming platform (along with DirectX 12 tech).

And to be clear about the “free” aspect of Apex, this is not a “free-to-play” title which comes with all those connotations of microtransactions and the funneling of users toward spending money in order to "win." Apex is more like a promotional slice of Forza Motorsport 6: a roster of approximately 60 cars, 6 environments, and 20 track variations.

The other major feature, of course, is the 4K-capable graphics thanks to the specs of a high-end PC. If Forza Motorsport 6's photorealism wasn't already impressive, Apex's performance and fidelity on a 4K TV is spectacular, with visible textures for divots in the pavement and bumpy stucco along walls. By default, the graphical settings will automatically change on the fly to adjust to your computer's specs, but you can set them manually if you're confident about your rig's setup.

Apex's core Showcase campaign spans over twelve events, each with the possibility of earning three medals which ultimately translates into more unlocked cars (about 60% of the roster is locked). By satisfying various objectives, like placing in the top three, performing perfect passes, or turning off certain assists, you'll earn the majority of the race points you'll need to earn all three medals. The other race points will be earned based on your overall time for a track, difficulty bonuses, and assist bonuses. And Forza experts will want to earn the most racing points as possible to earn shiny platinum medals that will serve as the ultimate bragging rights

Apart from the Xbox One controller, the game supports keyboard and mouse controls. However, Apex won't support racing wheels at launch and is still working on which wheels it wants to support (hopefully the high-end Logitech racing wheels at the very least). And while Apex doesn't have any multiplayer modes, it will have populated Drivatars and leaderboards from the Xbox One.

Forza Motorsport 6: Apex will release in Spring 2016 for PC.