‘Mexico is ridiculously beautiful’: how Forza Horizon 5 drove fresh sights into living rooms

The UK developers at Playground Games explain why they cut no corners in creating the latest Forza game, and wanted to ensure it gives players an authentic and cliche-free view of the Mexican landscape

There is a moment all Forza Horizon 5 players will experience when they first venture off road into rural Mexico. They will bust through a wall, or reach the summit of a steep hillside, and then, spread out before them as far as the eye can see, will be fields of the most glorious orange flowers. These are Mexican marigolds, or cempasuchil, which are closely associated with the country's Dia de los Muertos festival. It is believed their vibrant colour and heady scent help to guide the spirits of the dead back to their graves and altars.

When you look at the flowers you can see the individual petals," laughs the game's art director Don Arceta. We love doing farmland - it's a real opportunity to show the native agriculture that makes each landscape unique. This is the first Horizon game in a while that doesn't have canola growing everywhere. That was really nice."