Forza Horizon 5 is adding new in-game content to honor late motorsport star Ken Block. The legendary rally driver died earlier this month at 55 in a snowmobile accident which occurred near his ranch in Woodland, Utah.
Apart from being an icon of motorsport, Block was also famous among racing games fandom for his frequent collaborations with a variety of developers. He appeared in three Dirt games from Codemasters, as well as EA's 2015 Need for Speed reboot, among other games. His last gaming project was announced in 2021 in the form of a multi-year partnership with CSR Racing 2, which is still widely considered to be among the best mobile racing games ever made. Prior to that, Block's Hoonigan cards were featured in every one of Playground Games' Forza Horizon titles since FH3, as well as Forza Motorsport 7.
The British studio now intends to honor the late motorsport star with some free content that's set to release as part of a March series update for Forza Horizon 5. Apart from cosmetics in the form of a Ken Block Racing Suit and an accompanying helmet, fans will also receive the Hoonigan Ford "Hoonicorn" Mustang and a new player badge. Ken Block-inspired Accolade objectives will be part of the incoming content drop as well, together with a new Forza Link chat phrase. The March update will also mark the return of the 2016 Hoonigan GYMKHANA 9 Ford Focus RS RX, which will be given out as Forza Horizon 5's upcoming Seasonal Championship reward.
While Forza Horizon 5 is the first game to honor Block in this manner, it might not be the last, given the motorsport icon's extensive racing genre legacy. His gaming industry ties are also underlined by the fact that some current and former Codemasters employees took to social media to pay tribute to the late rally star earlier this month, reminiscing about their memories of collaborating with Block on Dirt 2, Dirt 3, and Dirt: Showdown. Ex-Codemasters Art Director Phil Warner compared his tragic death with the loss of Colin McRae, while Dirt 3 Lead Programmer Andrew Dennison revealed that Block used to visit the British studio to playtest the hit 2011 game and offer valuable feedback during development.
Many Forza Horizon 5 players have been paying tribute to the former Hoonigan Racing Division principal by sharing elaborate car designs based on his famous racing team over the course of this month. This virtual homage wave also reached other online communities, as evidenced by the recently surfaced GTA Online car collection inspired by Ken Block.
Forza Horizon 5 is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.