Forza Horizon 5 takes us to Mexico later this year

As the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase started winding down today, Microsoft made a whopper of a reveal by announcing Forza Horizon 5. Not only did we get confirmation that Forza Horizon 5 is on the way, but we also got an extended look at gameplay, details about this new game's setting, and a release date. As it turns out, Forza Horizon 5 is not just on the way, but it'll be here before the end of the year.

That is surprising to say the least, because most of us were probably expecting Forza Motorsport 8 to come out before Forza Horizon 5. That clearly isn't the case, as Forza Motorsport 8 was nowhere to be seen during Microsoft's E3 conference, while Horizon 5 closed out the show in a big way.

Just as the rumors foretold, we're heading to Mexico with this installment of the Forza Horizon series. The reveal trailer, which you can see embedded above, takes through a number of different environments that will be featured in the game, but that trailer wasn't the only thing Microsoft had to show today – we also got an extended look at gameplay with a 7 minute gameplay demo that followed the trailer.

The gameplay demo starts us in the jungles of Mexico in a new game mode called Expeditions, but it quickly shifts to the desert where we get to see some multiplayer action. We also get a glimpse at Horizon 5's Events Lab, which is where players will be able to create their own races and game modes. Customization is apparently top dog in that mode, and it'll be interesting to see what people create using Horizon 5's tools.

Forza Horizon 5 is out on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Steam, and Windows 10 on November 9th. Like every other first-party Microsoft game, it'll be available through Xbox Game Pass as well. Stay tuned for more, because we'll undoubtedly see more from Forza Horizon 5 soon.