While it may not come as much of a surprise that another entry in the Forza Motorsport franchise is under development, it's fair to assume its early announcement might have surprised Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios.

In a post on the racing wheel manufacturer's forums, Fanatic CEO Thomas Jackermeier asked forumgoers to let him know "what new features you would like to see supported in FM7," presumably a reference to the previously unannounced Forza Motorsport 7.

GTPlanet reported the post was later updated by Jackermeier, noting that his meeting to discuss racing wheel feature additions with Turn 10 Studios was very positive. "There is a new person who is responsible for physics and force feedback and this is a 'wheel guy,'" Jackermeir's post reads. "He is a real world racer with car engineering background and very familiar with PC simracing."

Fanatic produces racing wheels for a PC-first market, which explains Jackermeier's excitement at Turn 10's reported interest in supporting PC players. "The PC market seems very important for them and they are aware that this market is dominated by wheel users," he wrote. "Therefore we will intensify our co-operation and get the best out of the games for wheel users. I cannot confirm at this point what features can be implemented but the interest to do so is very high."

Given that wheel support was only relatively recently added to Forza Motorsport 6, it's good to hear that wheel manufacturers are working with Turn 10 Studios to ensure that support is well implemented.

We have reached out to Xbox for comment.