Meme culture manages to find its way into every form of entertainment, whether it is the intention of the minds behind it or not. It appears, in the case ofForza Horizon 5, the case is the latter as players are using the game’s car customization to their full advantage by turning their cars into mobile memes. One player in particular is spreading the message of “Birds Aren’t Real” across the game’s rendition ofMexicowith their trusty van.
Forza Horizon 5is the latest entry in theForza Horizonseries, transporting players from the English coast in the previous game to its rendition of Mexico for the titular music and car festival. Car customization, specifically, can take place at any of the game’s garages using vehicles players have unlocked along with customizing their in-game avatars. Players can tune cars to their liking for performance, swap out parts, and give cars and avatars a fresh look before getting back out on the road.
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Reddit user CiaoTime took full advantage of the cosmetic customization to give theirin-game GMC vana fresh look and promote “Birds Aren’t Real.” They kept the van’s overall color a flat white while several messages are posted all across the van. These include the aforementioned line and several other messages associated with it, such as birds are actually surveillance cameras and their batteries are regularly recharged on power lines.
As simple the design appears, CiaoTime’s van highlights the freedomPlayground Gamesgives players withForza Horizon’s car customization. The studio has expanded customization with every game in theHorizonseries with additions like design-sharing where players can post their car designs online for other players to download. Given this option, players shouldn’t be surpised if more cars pop up in-game bearing this design.
CiaoTime’s van is also another example of how the online movement has taken off over the last three years, though not in the way the creator of “Birds Aren’t Real” seems to have intended. The movement was born in 2018 by a then 20-year-old college student who said birds were actually drones built by the CIA after taking out a multi-billion dollar loan.
While the creator stands by his message, “Birds Aren’t Real” became co-opted by online meme culture which uses it to mock thespread of conspiracy theoriesover the last several years. This coincides with the rise of groups like QAnon, a right-wing conspiracy group, which gained traction over the last several years thanks to mainstream news coverage and far-right elected officials in the U.S. government.
Forza Horizon 5is currently available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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