Forza Motorsport 4 was announced via a technology demo at Microsoft's E3 2010 press conference and formally unveiled at the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards. Turn 10 Studios secured a multiple-year partnership with BBC's Top Gear program, which provided presenter Jeremy Clarkson for narration duties and licensed the show's Dunsfold Aerodrome test track. An additional partnership with the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) ran for two years from August 8, 2011, providing themed in-game events to complement the ALMS cars and circuits already present in earlier series entries.
The game introduced Kinect sensor support alongside traditional controller and steering wheel gameplay, the first title in the series to do so.
Forza Motorsport 4 is a racing simulation featuring 500 cars from 80 manufacturers and 26 courses, including 17 real-world tracks and nine fictional locations. Three real-world tracks made their Forza debut: Hockenheimring, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Infineon Raceway, joined by the fictional Bernese Alps. Online play supports up to 16 players, an increase from the eight-car limit of earlier entries. Offline split-screen play is also available. Race types include standard circuit races, drift events, autocross, and multiple-heat formats.
The World Tour career mode, an evolution of Forza Motorsport 3's Season Play, dynamically adapts AI difficulty based on the player's ongoing performance, allowing computer opponents to upgrade their cars to match the driver's improving skill level. Players who imported their Forza Motorsport 3 profiles could transfer a portion of in-game credits and gifted cars, with the allowed amount tied to their prior play history. A car club system allows groups of players to share garage contents.
The signature new mode in Forza Motorsport 4, Autovista allows players to explore 24 select cars in granular detail — inspecting brake pads, transmission components, engine parts, and interior gauges. Using Kinect or a standard controller, players point at specific features to trigger audio commentary. Jeremy Clarkson narrated the Autovista entries for cars featured in partnership with Top Gear. Graphics in Autovista used image-based lighting to produce precise reflections and immerse the vehicle in its environment. The UNSC Warthog from Halo was also included in Autovista mode but was not drivable.
Kinect allowed head-tracking, letting players look toward a corner's apex or at nearby cars while steering with a wheel or controller. A full-body steering mode was available in which the player's outstretched arms acted as the steering wheel, with the game managing throttle and braking automatically. Voice commands enabled menu navigation and race starts.
Turn 10 identified audio as central to the Forza experience, recording sounds from over 500 cars on a dyno in Redmond, Washington, using an 8- to 10-channel setup with microphones at the engine, intake, and exhaust. High-SPL microphones were used on particularly loud cars, notably the Mazda 787B. The team licensed iZotope's Trash distortion plugin on FMOD to achieve "on the limit" audio saturation. Tire sounds were recorded separately using a Tesla Roadster, whose near-silent electric motor allowed clean capture without engine or exhaust noise contamination. Two microphones mounted to the car pointed directly at the tire produced hundreds of sounds per surface, varying dynamically with lateral and vertical load.
The game's score was composed by Lance Hayes, returning from Forza Motorsport 3, working under the Microsoft Studios Music label. The score combined downtempo, electronic, and ambient styles with cinematic orchestral elements.
Turn 10's partnership with Top Gear extended beyond the Autovista narration. The game includes the Top Gear test track with authentic camera angles during replays, two of the show's three "reasonably priced cars" (the Kia Cee'd and Suzuki Liana), Top Gear Car Football and a bowling mini-game both set on the test track, and a recreated Top Gear studio with show cars on plinths and original logo and lighting arrangements. A live-action television commercial narrated by Jeremy Clarkson accompanied the game's release.
Forza Motorsport 4 received universal acclaim. Metacritic placed it in the same tier as the three previous entries. Luke Reilly of IGN called it "this generation's premier racing simulator," citing the Autovista mode's attention to detail and Clarkson's "refreshingly candid" commentary. Edge magazine contrasted it favorably against Gran Turismo 5, arguing the Forza series provided a "more exciting drive." The Digital Fix gave the game a perfect ten, describing it as "the best racing simulator on any platform." In Japan, Famitsu awarded 38 out of 40.
Several reviewers noted the Kinect implementation was a gimmick rather than a genuine simulation enhancement, and some felt the game represented an incremental rather than transformational step over Forza Motorsport 3. Nevertheless, Forza Motorsport 4 ranked first in UK sales in its launch week and won Racing Game of the Year at the 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.
Forza Motorsport 4 marked the peak of the Forza series on Xbox 360 and the fullest realization of the platform's simulation ambitions. Its Autovista mode became a benchmark for in-game automotive presentation. The game was the last Forza Motorsport on the Xbox 360; the series moved to Xbox One with Forza Motorsport 5 in 2013.