Microsoft announces February 2005 date for Forza

Forza Motorsport, Microsoft's first party Xbox racing title, has been given a more solid release date at last - with the platform holder nailing down the game to a February 2005 release slot in the UK.

The announcement isn't a delay, as such, since Microsoft had previously listed the game as a Winter 2005 launch, but it does confirm that we won't be seeing it before Christmas (as suspected) and that it won't be launching late next year, as the previous date might have suggested.

"Forza Motorsport is a title we are getting amazing feedback on from people who are really passionate about the world of cars and auto racing," according to Microsoft Game Studios general manager Shane Kim.

"The ability to customize your cars, the amazingly realistic physics and of course the ability to experience all of this online is quickly making this the one 'must have' racing sim."

Forza is widely seen as Microsoft's effort to develop a serious competitor to Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo series, but reaction to early showings of the game have been mixed - with those who saw it at the Game Stars Live show in London in September noting that the framerate, in particular, was exceptionally poor.