Forza Horizon 3 update pushes an unencrypted developers build by mistake

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The 53GB "update" reveals unannounced DLC cars and also breaks saves.

The latest update to Forza Horizon 3, as noticed by NeoGAF, is a whopping 53GB download. That's an awful lot of data for a single update. As it turns out, that's because instead of patching the game to support today's Rockstar Car Pack, the update pushed an unencrypted developer build of the entire game. 

The leak revealed a huge list of cars, many of them not yet added to the game—spoiler warning, but you can see the full list on Imgur—and may well have exposed the game to heightened risks of piracy as well. But the real problem for players, as explained in this forum post, is that those who downloaded the update, and then played and saved the game, will be stuck with corrupted saves.   

"Avoid creating a new saved game on .37.2, and only play on .35.2 to avoid this issue," Forza community manager Brian Ekberg. "As long as you have an existing save and have not created a new one on .37.2, your saved game will work correctly once the update is available." 

The update has now been pulled, but if you've already installed it you'll need to uninstall the game and then redownload the whole thing. The incorrect version will end in .37.2, while the correct, playable build will end in .35.2. The version number can be found on the Forza Horizon 3 launch screen; check it before you drive, just to be sure.

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.