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Forza Motorsport 7 launched on Tuesday to high acclaim with one notable exception. Criticism was laid at the developer for changing the VIP bonus that comes with the Ultimate Edition of the game. Yesterday, Turn 10 Studios took to the Forza blog to address the situation.
In case you don’t know, the VIP bonus, previously, was a paid for bonus item that came with limited editions of Forza Motorsport 5 and 6. The scheme gave players some extra cars to drive within the game but also added a permanent 2x multiplier to any credits earned in game. Effectively, every race was worth double the amount of prize money, which enabled longtime fans to buy cars with greater ease.
This was changed for Forza Motorsport 7 with the VIP bonus now being a consumable mod card, unlockable from purchasing loot boxes. The VIP bonus now had limited uses of five times per card. Most of the dissatisfaction from the Forza community and reviewers, aside from the notion that this was now a microtransaction setup for loot boxes, was from the way this was communicated.
It wasn’t until after the game released in early access for Ultimate Edition customers that people knew how the bouns had changed. The store listing for the game was updated over the weekend but that was too little too late for many.
On the Forza blog, Turn 10 studio head Alan Hartman address the concerns of the players and offered a complete reversal on the VIP card situation. "Over the weekend we heard loud and clear from Ultimate Edition owners expressing frustration over the VIP membership offer in Forza Motorsport 7," said Hartman. "We immediately updated the VIP description in the Windows Store to alleviate any future confusion. As head of the studio, I apologize for any confusion or frustration our players may have experienced.
"Going forward, we will continue to ensure that Forza Motorsport 7 VIPs receive the most value for their VIP membership, including new experiences and great content. Starting today we’re sending all Forza Motorsport 7 VIPs four additional Forza Edition cars. In addition to the cars, we’re also sending all Forza 7 VIPs 1 million credits.
"Secondly, and even more significantly, we will be changing VIP rewards in Forza Motorsport 7. This new system will work like it did in Forza Motorsport 6, offering a 2X base credit bonus after every race. We’ve already started work on this feature and we will release it as soon as possible."
