To activate Forza Horizon 2 with a license key, follow these steps:

Modern digital licenses are tied to an Xbox or Microsoft account. Simply pasting text from a notepad file will not bypass the digital rights management (DRM) required to run the game.

Microsoft has a strict policy against piracy and cheating. If you're caught using a pirated license key, you risk getting your Xbox account or console banned from online gaming services. This means you'll lose access to online multiplayer, cloud saves, and other features.

Understanding the game's official status helps explain why these "free keys" are common traps: