Starting today, Turn 10 has removed the restriction on Forza Motorsport 5 DLC cars that required players purchase the vehicle using in-game credits after first purchasing it with real money. Now, any DLC cars purchased will appear in the garage instantly, as it should have been all along.

While Turn 10’s official statement cites the franchise’s 10-year anniversary as the impetus behind the decision, we’d venture to guess the vehement backlash from fans played a part as well. The idea of microtransactions in Forza 5 did not go over well with fans to begin with, but when it was soon discovered that paying to unlock new cars didn’t actually unlock them, Turn 10 came under immense scrutiny.

And no matter how hard they tried to defend the design decision or to lower the price for DLC cars, it was only a matter of time before they took the restriction off completely. It started with a tease - claims that the Forza economy might soon change - and now Turn 10 has made the change official and permanent.

Oftentimes when a developer makes a poor design decision or adds an unwanted feature, they are left to face the wrath of the gaming populace without hope of reprieve. In some cases, though, there is a chance at redemption, even if it means making a complete 180 on your line of thinking. SimCity developer Maxis Games, for example, spent a full year tiptoeing around the fact gamers wanted an offline mode, before actually giving it to them.

In Turn 10 Studios’ case, the 180 was also there all along, but it took them some time for them to realize it. Now that they have, the hope is that they will listen a little more closely to fan requests and shy away from any poorly implemented microtransactions in the future. More importantly, this recent backlash gives Forza Horizon developer Playground Games - who may have a title in the works for 2014 - a clearer picture of what fans want out of a Forza game.

Are you glad that Turn 10 is finally responding to fan requests? Do you think it’s too little too late?

Forza Motorsport 5 is out now for the Xbox One.

-

Source: Turn 10