My Coworker's Forza Drivatar Wants Me Dead

"If you're unfamiliar, Forza Drivatars are CPU-controlled embodiments of you, making it so that even if you're playing the game solo, you'll get the thrill and the feel of racing real people. It gives CPU racers the names, custom license plates, and even the cars of those on your friends list, as well as others who have played the game, and it's trained on their driving habits to perform the way they do in races."

"And that's what has me so concerned: If GameSpot video producer Tom Caswell's Drivatar is trained on his driving habits, then his hobbies seem to include vehicular homicide. Evidently, he would prefer me dead in a ditch, based on how his Drivatar would ram into me whenever I got close to his car or truck during my Forza Horizon 6 review sessions."

"I caught on to this early and had to adapt quickly. As each race would count down to the word “go,” I'd first scout the starting grid for my colleague/would-be murderer so I could plan how to best avoid being the paparazzi to his Jennifer Lopez's driver. I've seen enough horror movies in my time to know the familiar trappings. I wasn't going to die in the cold open, at the very least."

"My best bet was to do what I learned in asymmetrical horror multiplayer games like Friday The 13th and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: I didn't need to be faster than Tom, I just needed to put other victims between him and me. Hopefully, by the time he was done leaving CPU Brian Shea of Game Informer in a fiery ditch back in the first half-mile, I'd have pu"

Forza Horizon 6 uses Drivatars, CPU-controlled racers that mirror real players’ driving styles. Drivatars take on names, custom license plates, and cars associated with friends and other players, and they are trained on driving habits to perform similarly in races. During solo play, this can create the feel of racing real people. In practice, a Drivatar can behave aggressively, ramming when opponents get close. To survive races, the player adapts by scouting the grid, avoiding direct confrontations, and using positioning to place other racers between themselves and the aggressive Drivatar. The result is high-stakes, horror-like tension even without human opponents.

Read at GameSpot