While Microsoft’s marquee racing title Forza Motorsport 4 will be featuring a ton of different car makes and models to choose from, one very popular, and very fast, brand will be notably absent. Though developer Turn 10 was able to include 35 different Porsche models in Forza 3, they are saddened that that tally has to drop down to zero.

According to the creative director on Forza 4, Dan Greenawalt, Electronic Arts actually owns the rights to Porsche licensing in a racing video game — perhaps from either the Burnout or Need for Speed series — and it’s through Electronic Arts that Turn 10 would have to gain access to the Porsche model. Unfortunately, while some sort of a deal was arranged for Forza 3, that same licensing agreement could not be made for Forza 4.

Greenawalt added, to give a little perspective on the issue, that Forza had the exclusive rights to all Ferrari models but, in an act of fair competition, decided to let other titles license the vehicles as well.

"Forza had the exclusive license for all Ferrari cars, for example, on the Xbox and PC platforms. But at the end of the day, we've always found that we just weren't willing to block other racing games from having Ferraris outright, as we believed that this would do nothing but hurt the racing ecosystem."

Forza may have been a bit too generous in light of recent events, but they still have the opportunity to deliver a really great racing game this year — albeit without any Porsches.

With a major push for Kinect implementation in Forza 4, there might be a significant sector of the racing game fan base that look to Forza 4 to place them into the cockpit of some high-powered cars in ways they’ve never been before. Sure, getting a chance to check out a larger selection of cars would have been an added bonus, but it’s hard to believe that Turn 10 isn’t swinging for the fences this year.

With, earlier this year, Gran Turismo 5 coming out to middling reviews (arguably tainted by years and years of waiting), Forza has a chance to standout as the definitive console exclusive of the racing game genre. There might not be in Porsche in the garage, but, when surrounded with the likes of Ferrari and BMW, I don’t think too many will notice.

Does not having any Porsche models in Forza 4 influence your decision to check out the game? What do you think of Electronic Arts blocking Forza from gaining that Porsche license?

Forza Motorsport 4 releases October 11, 2011 for the Xbox 360.

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Source: Eurogamer