To promote the launch of Forza Horizon 5, the Xbox ANZ team pulled off a daring stunt. They dropped a real Polaris out of the sky from 4,500 feet up just like it happens in the game.
The car safely floats to the ground in what looks to be the middle-of-nowhere in Victoria. A person jumps out of the helicopter as well, parachuting to the ground before jumping into the Polaris and zipping around with speed and style (and pink smoke clouds). Check it out:
This is just the latest extravagant campaign from Xbox ANZ, the division of Xbox focused on Australia and New Zealand. Xbox ANZ also turned Queenstown, New Zealand into "Greenstown" to promote the Series X|S launch a year ago. Before that, the team made a greaseproof Xbox controller, Xbox bodywash, and who could forget the Xbox Onesie. More recently, Xbox ANZ created Age of Empires-themed cereal to promote the launch of Age of Empires IV.
The person who jumped out of the helicopter, Ossie Khan, is wearing a Forza Horizon 5 helmet in the video, and you can win it by liking a retweeting this tweet.
Looking ahead, we can't wait to see what Xbox ANZ might have in the works to promote arguably Microsoft's biggest game of the year--Halo Infinite.
GameSpot's Forza Horizon 5 review scored the racing game a 9/10. "Forza Horizon 5 is another meaningful evolution of the series as opposed to a reinvention, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a case of more of the same," reviewer Alessandro Barbosa said. "Even when it is familiar, Forza Horizon 5 makes small, but thoughtful changes to its established blueprint that hones in on the people behind the cars in a way that the franchise has previously just glossed over."