Forza Horizon 2 announced for 360 and Xbox One

UPDATE: It's been confirmed via Forza Motorsport's official Twitter account that the Xbox 360 version is being handled by a different developer, and running on a different engine. Playground Games is handling the Xbox One version, working from the engine used in Forza Motorsport 5, while Sumo Digital will be working from the original Horizon engine model to create the 360 iteration. That's likely reason for cheer, given Sumo's impeccable racing heritage - the Sheffield studio created the excellent Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, as well as the definitive versions of Sega's OutRun 2 on console.

ORIGINAL STORY:Microsoft has confirmed the existence of Forza Horizon 2, revealing via IGN that it is indeed coming to Xbox One later this year. More surprisingly, it's also coming to the Xbox 360.

While it was previously believed that the sequel to 2012's open-world driving game would be set in America's Deep South thanks to some leaked artwork, it appears that Forza Horizon 2 will instead be heading closer to home with Southern Europe acting as the backdrop.

Playground Games, a team formed of Codemasters veterans based in Leamington Spa, will again be taking on development duties, working closely alongside mainline Forza developer Turn 10.

Forza Horizon 2 will be featuring a weather system, as well as the Drivatars - a way of populating a game with AI's built around the characteristics and driving styles of your friends - from Forza Motorsport 5. There will be 'hundreds' of cars, but leading the way on Forza Horizon 2's boxart is the Lamborghini Huracán.

The original Forza Horizon was one of our games of 2012, and arguably one of the last generations' very finest racing experiences. Hopefully we'll find more out at E3.

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