You thought racing games were niche? Think again.
Forza Horizon 6’s global release on 19 May turned out to be a smashing success, with the racing game recording over 273,000 concurrent players on Steam alone. This makes the game not only the most-played racing game ever on the platform, but also its most successful Xbox launch.
Forza Horizon 6
Release date: 15 May (Early Access) 19 May (general release)
Platforms: PC (via Steam) and Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 release confirmed for later this year
Developer: Playground Games
How was the reception to Forza Horizon 6?
The sixth instalment of the Forza Horizon franchise has proven to be bigger and better in all sorts of ways.
At its Early Access launch on 15 May, which was open to Premium Edition buyers, Forza Horizon 6 drew in over 100,000 concurrent players, based on Steam Charts. That figure gradually climbed to more than 180,000 just two days later.
On its general launch day, the game continued to set another peak record, racking up over 273,000 concurrent players–roughly three times the peak player count of Forza Horizon 5. The sky-high numbers easily propelled the game into Steam’s Top 5 most-played titles at the time.
It is now also Xbox’s most successful game launch on the platform, surpassing Halo Infinite, which previously peaked at around 270,000 concurrent players.
Strong player numbers are one thing, but Forza Horizon 6 has also earned exceptionally high review scores. Our review called the game “a dazzling and surprisingly cosy drive through Japan.” The positive reception is also reflected across player feedback, with the game currently holding a “Very Positive” rating on Steam.
Forza Horizon 6 survived a pre-launch hiccup
For a brief period, the online community worried about how the launch would turn out, particularly after the game suffered a disastrous leak ten days before its Early Access release. The entire game build was exposed online, allowing pirates to obtain and distribute it.
Forza Horizon 6 is also relatively expensive, carrying a US$70 price tag–now the standard across many AAA titles. On top of that, the racing game demands a significant amount of storage space, coming in at around 140GB.
Of course, Forza Horizon 6 boasts next-generation visuals, upgraded mechanics, gameplay and more. But Playground Games has been praised by the community for several of its other decisions, particularly its focus on PC optimisation.
The studio chose not to implement Denuvo DRM, an anti-piracy technology that has become notorious among PC players for potentially affecting performance.
It also utilises the Advanced Shader Delivery feature that eases startup, brings less shader stutter, and an overall smoother gameplay gameplay experience.
