In Forza Horizon 6, an AI driver is driving the community crazy. Now even Halo, Battlefield, and other games are picking up on the meme.
InForza Horizon 6there are fast cars, tight turns, a beautiful Japan, and, as of recently, apparently also a “final boss.” His name:Bowie Knife99.
He appears in races as a so-called Drivatar—an AI driver in Forza based on real player data. These opponents are actually meant to make solo races more lively. Bowie Knife99 has taken this task a bit too literally and drives as if he’s been drinking paint.
Where does Bowie Knife99 come from?
An early Reddit thread simply asks the question in its title:Who is Bowie Knife99?
The player writes there that Bowie Knife99 is constantly leading his races. At first, he thought it might be someone from his friends list. Then he saw the same name in other players’ YouTube videos. From then on, it was clear: This guy isn’t just getting on one player’s nerves.
Many more threads and clips followed:Bowie mercilessly chases players through forests, sometimes crashing into their cars out of the blue, and generally proves to be an extremely tenacious opponent who is hard to beat. Want a few examples?
bowie knife99 just sent me back to Mexico
byu/mirallas2323 inForzaHorizon
The Community Strikes Back
In response to this ongoing harassment, a portion of the player base has decided to strike back—and in doing so, truly any means are justified.
Players ram him into guardrails, push him off the road, or even accept losing time themselves, as long as the troublemaker suffers too.
Finally demolished the fucker
byu/_Friedbacon1246 inForzaHorizon
Some fans have even started inviting as many friends as possible to their online sessions. Because the more real people are out on the track, the lower the risk that the lobby will be filled with the hated Drivatar– at least that’s the theory.
Bowie Knife99 Becomes an Internet Phenomenon
The meme has now caused such a stir that not only Forza fans, but even developers of other games fear Bowie.
Official accounts for other games have picked up on Bowie Knife99 and posted their own memes about it:
Who or what exactly is behind the profile, however, remains a mystery. Bowie Knife99’s Xbox profile is set to private, which is why their identity remains hidden. It’s certainly not a developer from Playground Games, as they have a special icon next to their name. But perhaps a particularly aggressive beta tester?
There’s no way to verify this at the moment. Until then, Bowie Knife99 will simply remain the driver whom many Forza players think of as soon as they hear the name: “Oh no, not him again.”
