Ford’s entire 2016 lineup is coming to Forza Motorsport 6, including the new Ford GT

“This franchise, Forza, goes back 10 years. And in those 10 years, we’ve seen the relationship really change between the automotive industry and the gaming industry,” Turn 10 creative director Dan Greenawalt tells Digital Trends in an interview connected to the announcement. “A lot of it is due to the new generation of gamer, and the rise of the gamer in general. It’s changed the way that auto manufacturers approach us, but it’s also changed our capabilities. The storytelling that we can actually do as a product is really unique. So being able to debut both car and game at the same time is really cool.”

Ford adds, “We’re really excited, because this is the ultimate way, in our minds, to help reach a really key demographic for us and to really help bring these vehicles to life, and just help tell our story in an absolutely authentic way.”

There’s little to say right now about Forza Motorsport 6 outside of the Ford news. The auto manufacturer’s newly revealed lineup of performance vehicles — including the F-150 Raptor, Shelby GT350 Mustang, and, as Forza 6‘s “cover car,” the new Ford GT supercar — will all be available to inspect up close in Forza Vista mode, and raced on any of the game’s tracks. Microsoft and Turn 10 promise more to be revealed at the annual E3 trade show in June.

The “test drive” angle is what Ford and Turn 10 are pushing here, with a unique perspective on the relationship between car and consumer. Greenawalt acknowledges that, while you can’t actually feel the speed of being on a test track or smell the new leather, a partnership like this one speaks to younger and future car buyers.

“We’ve really seen the way that people approach cars in our game and it’s very cool, it’s very unique,” Greenawalt says. “What we’ve found is, when most people get into a car, for example in Forza 5, they go look at Forza Vista for a little bit, and then they go take it on the track and play in first-person mode, the cockpit. Now most players, when they’re … racing, they don’t race in cockpit.  But strangely enough, it’s one of the first things they do when they get in a new car in the game. They get into that cockpit. I think that’s indicative of how people kick the tires in the digital world.”

He continues: “The new generation that’s getting into cars, they want it on the lock screen of their cell phone; they want it on their tablet; they want to be able to customize it; they want to be able to experience it; they want to be able to make it their own. That’s where gaming really comes into play [in its ability] to tell automotive stories that older media simply can’t do.”