A lot of gamers are upset after both, EA and Turn10 confirmed, that Toyota’s cars won’t be making it into their upcoming titles, Need For Speed Payback and Forza Motorsport 7. With both studios releasing the lineup of cars that would be available in their upcoming titles, the absence of Toyota is very disturbing to some.

After we reported that Toyota’s cars won’t be coming to Need For Speed Payback, Toyota hasn’t commented on the issue and has been quiet since then. However, with an article submitted back in 2009, it seems like Toyota started feeling like games were unhealthy for the company. With gamers feeling unhappy with Toyota’s absence in the game, many took it to the internet to hunt down for clues what could be the reason for Toyota’s absence. When we first heard about it, we considered it to be a licensing issue with the two gaming franchises. However, clues say otherwise.

In an newspaper from 2009, a Toyota Exec spoke Osaka’s Mainichi Newspaper. At the time, Japanese car sales were going down the slope and Toyota decided to break out on the topic. The Toyota Exec said:

“Home game machines are no good. Playing something that realistic makes the need for cars disappear.”

This is one of the moments Toyota expressed their taste regarding the gaming industry. However, it seems like public stats say otherwise. But then, if we factor in Japan only, it seems like it could be quite viable.

Taking another look as a refresher at what the representative commented on Reddit a few days ago, we could clearly see that they aren’t willing to give a reason for the absence of the cars. The rep said:

We know the subject of Toyota is on a lot of minds over the last few weeks. As many of you here suspect, there will be no Toyota cars in Need for Speed Payback. While we’re as disappointed as you are, we do hope that we’ll once again see Toyota back in Need for Speed in the future.

Now while whatever may have been a reason seems to be digging itself into the ground as both parties haven’t given any hint or clue regarding the absence. To keep us happy, let’s just suppose it was due to a licensing issue. Maybe next time Supra fans.

Need For Speed Payback is set to release on the 10th of November 2017 on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.