Forza Horizon 2 will launch without “tokens,” the virtual currency the Forza franchise uses to acquire cars, Digital Spy reports.
Playground Games’ Ralph Fulton said the game won’t feature tokens — which can be bought in Forza Motorsport 5 for real money — at launch because developers have designed the game “to be fair, to be fun, to be rewarding.”
“That’s incredibly important to us,” he added. “For that reason, we will launch in September without tokens.”
Forza Horizon 2‘s unlock system, Fulton said, is designed to get drivers trying out new cars very quickly, and premium vehicles are prizes in a wheel-of-fortune type minigame featured in the multiplayer of the original Forza Horizon. Each time a driver levels up he earns a spin on the wheel.
When Forza Motorsport 5 first launched, Microsoft faced heavy criticism for the manner in which its virtual economy and microtransactions were handled. Shortly after its release, Microsoft adjusted the rate at which players acquired tokens for free, and discounted the prices on the unlockable vehicles in Forza 5‘s fleet.
Forza Horizon 2, a sequel to the 2012 open-world action racer, will launch Sept. 30 for Xbox One and Xbox 360.