I sat next to a dude from Ford at the Microsoft E3 press conference a few years back. Seemed like a nice person, and as far as I could grasp, he was basically Ford's "game guy," making sure that the brand is well-represented in games and protecting it from... I don't know, rogue Chevy enthusiasts or something. Hot brand synergies don't just happen all by themselves, people.

I have nothing left to add to that amazing anecdote, but seeing that the Ford Twitter account was the place to state that Forza Motorsport 6 was going to be available at some point in the near-future made me think of him. Oh, by the way, there's going to be a Forza Motorsport 6. Ford's new 2017 Ford GT is going to be on the cover and in the game. The car was officially unveiled today at the North American International Auto Show and will be sold in the back half of 2016 for more money than you probably want to spend on a car. The game has no announced release date (but we're probably looking at Q4 2015).

The other newly announced Fords, the Shelby GT350 Mustang and the F-150 Raptor, will also appear in the game. As a former Mustang owner, I damn near bought another one when I was car shopping a couple of years ago. I like the look of the modern Mustang, they've sleeked it up a bit compared to the '97 GT I drove for over a decade. But I couldn't double down on the Mustang after that long. Needed a change, ya know?

Anyway, here's a short video that Microsoft put out to confirm the news itself, complete with a confused-looking dude in the cockpit of one for a brief second.

The press release that slid out alongside this video confirms the game as being "exclusively for Xbox One" and that gameplay will be shown at E3 this year, but the rest of the release is full of the same sort of big talk about car lovers and gamers and the intersection between the two that you've heard out of them for the past few games. As someone who came away from Turn 10's last game more than a little disappointed, I'd hope that there's more planned for Forza 6 than continuing to double down on the same talk.

Wubba Lubba Dub Dub!

Thank Ford!

Feels weird to have three Forza games two years after the console came out, but this could be a good opportunity for Turn 10 to make good on the mishaps that happened with 5.

Hopefully it is more impressive than 5, but I will buy it either way!

That anecdote was way more interesting to me than the announcement.

I drive a Mustang and would've fanboyed for this news, but I really just need a Need for Speed game that reaches its potential (due to a lack of Burnout).

Another Forza game. Although I guess I shouldn't be surprised MS is turning this boring franchise in an annual one.

I feel 6 is going to be great.

Turn 10 is a dev that listens to their community and after some not so great feedback from 5 they should correct the big mishaps they made. Personally the micro transaction stuff doesn't bother me, i don't want them so i don't buy them, I don't get insulted by them being on screen either, I can ignore them.

I would love if all news was delivered in this long format, sort-of-don't-care tone. Very chill Jeff. Easy to read. I love it.

@jeff: Typo in the 3rd paragraph, 2nd sentence: "could" should be "couple" :

As a former Mustang owner, I damn near bought another one when I was car shopping a could of years ago.

@jeff couple is misspelled just looking out! :)

maybe ease up with the forza?

That's a pretty motor vehicle right there! Ever since I played Forza 4 (I was a long time Gran Turismo player) I can't imagine playing a better driving game (sorry Forza 5, you had your chance). I look forward to the car list and eventually playing another Forza.

Mmmm dat Ford GT.

Let's all buy mustangs.

I am utterly shocked by this news. That said, count me among those who will take all the Forza they'll give me. Love the series.

Cars are alright, as far as getting from one place to another place goes.

It still astounds me how much faster this series comes out than Gran Turismo. It shouldn't -- it really shouldn't -- but it does.

I really hope this is better than Forza 5. Forza is my favorite racing/sports series and that shit made me almost cry with how bad it was.

I don't think either Forza 5 or Horizon 2 are terrible games, but I did get sick of both of them and stop playing when I was less than 1/5 through the 'content' in them. FM5's career asks you to drive something like 50 times on every track in the game.

Another one of those huh?

Strongly agree. It reads a bit like something that Jeff would talk about for about 3 minutes on the podcast or during a side-conversation during a Quick Look, and it makes for very enjoyable reading. I felt the same way about the news articles that Alex posted today.

I hope this becomes a thing! I love hearing a bit more of the written voice of these guys somewhere besides a review (or an open letter whenever something horrible happens).

It's so strange to me that the last GT was PS3 only. And with Drive Club being the hot mess that it is, Sony doesn't currently have anything to combat a new Forza. At least, as far as I know.

Gran Turismo 7 if they listen to feedback for once will be smashing this guaranteed for those of us who cannot stand the colour-scheme of the Forzas and who simply cannot take non-GT tracks because we've been playing the series since 1998 and still do. Within arms reach is my PS1 with GT1 installed, been brainstorming speedrunning it for a laugh.

Just wanted to say 1) this is a damned sexy car 2) I just learned that EA have some contract with Porsche keeping other games from using those cars, hope it expires and stays expired wtf

Rogue Chevy enthusiast is the name of my new [whatever we're naming weird things nowadays].

Lets see all those microtransactions!

Will it be complete garbage like Forza 5, or be amazing like Forza 3? Only time will tell. I own every Forza game, but the release of 5 really ruined my trust in Turn 10.

Can I press Y to accelerate the game's release? I wasn't a huge fan of Forza 5, but their new every other year cycle with Horizon means that there's a "better" game coming out on a regular basis to make sure I stay hyped for more games with Forza in the title.

@kasaioni: Forza games sell poorly. Sony doesn't really have to worry.

Man, a lot of hate for Forza 5 in here. I thought it was perfectly fine, considering it was a launch game. Yeah, it was too microtransaction-y, but it's still a damn good-looking game that played well. It's no Horizon 2 (which is awesome), but it's not the worst of the series and was still way better than most driving games, IMO.

@jdillinger: Really, I assumed they must have sold well considering there's already been five of them.

Well, they're keeping pace with all of their releases so far. A game came out every two years since 2005. And so far 5 was the only major stumble. Of course I wouldn't mind them taking their time to make sure that the next one's better.

@kasaioni: Microsoft needs a first party answer to a major game like Gran Turismo. Just as Sony needs a first party answer to Halo.

FYI GT5 itself has pretty much outsold the entire Forza franchise. Also, I should add that a lot of Forza sales from aggressive bundling.

I think that's a bit of a stretch.

You can bet that the all of these shiny new cars will be available for low low price of $1.99 a pop.

This is one of those games that I'm glad exists, but I only want to play one once about every three years.

@jdillinger: Who cares? They're doing fine. Five games and two spin-offs don't happen when they're not making money. And as long as the games keep coming, the sales really don't matter at all to the end-user. Whenever people wave sales figures around like a mark of quality, I feel like they're compensating for something.

Huh?

How am I the first one to point out the obvious 'Fordza 6'?

...I'll show myself back out of the thread.

Great, because that's just what everybody looks forward to in a new Forza game, is driving those exotic Ford cars. Oh, well, it's what's in the box (or the modern equivalent, the download) that counts.

Driveclub had a really bad launch, and yeah, it sucks that the Plus version isn't out yet, but I paid for it and it's pretty damn good now that the servers are sorted out.

GT6 is outstanding, and really deserved a launch on new hardware. If Polyphony just iterates on the strengths of this game, GT7 will be a masterpiece.

@hatking: I was responding to a person who was implying Sony should be worried about a new Forza. Context bud.

We're talking about a company that missed the chance to name its second-best non-Horizon installment '4za,' I don't think they care at all about what the best name would be so long as it gets the brand across.

@zokugojira: I totally agree, I did not get it till Christmas and I have had zero issues and the driving is actually fun. I need people on my friends list that play the same games I do, add me PSN Name is same as here

I'm still amazed that Forza can come out this often (plus the two Horizon games) and still be profitable.

...and so will Half-Life 3.

New Ford GT?! Huh. Rad.

Oh right, video games too.

Cant wait for FM6! Every year a different flavour, I really don't consider motorsport and horizon the same game. Enthusiasts get what they want, then take a break the next year with a big dumb open world thing. Win win.

@jeff you ended up with a Lexus IS series right? Man you have an awesome car history.

I think Forza 5 and Horizon 2 both felt right and looked great. My issues with Forza 5 was a lack of tracks and variety. I felt like many of the events overlapped and there weren't near enough tracks. It definitely felt like it was rushed out to get to launch. If they just add more content to it, maybe put in some of that wonderful random weather from Horizon 2, that'd be neat.

Someone call an ambulance for this man, quick!

Ford CEO suffers a random injury, blames "the Forza curse."