Forza Horizon 6 was the much-anticipated successor to 2021’s open world racer. Released just over a week ago (slightly longer for those who paid for Advanced Access) the game has already garnered a ton of success, selling over 1.4 million copies during its pre-release period while amassing over 6 million players across PC, Xbox and Game Pass. Adding another achievement to the game’s belt, Forza Horizon 6 has also managed to become the most played game published by Microsoft on Steam – seeing over 300,000 concurrent players.

As reported by the data tracking site SteamDB, the full launch of Forza Horizon 6 was met with a ton of interest, including on Steam where the game managed to peak at over 300k concurrents (302,645 players to be specific).

While this is already a major achievement, even more impressive is the fact that Forza Horizon 6 now represents the most played title on the platform in Microsoft history – beating out Halo Infinite (272k) and Halo: The Master Chief Collection (161k).

With regards to the former, Infinite’s multiplayer mode is a free to play offering, meaning FH6 managed to beat it despite costing ‘infinitely’ more (£60).

In comparing apples-to-apples, Forza Horizon 6’s peak was almost 4 times as high as FH5, which managed a total of 81,092 players during its launch period back in 2021.

With Forza Horizon 6 breaking records on Steam despite also being available via Xbox Game Pass, it is quite clear that Playground Games’ long-awaited title was indeed worth it in the eyes of players.

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KitGuru says: Have you purchased Forza Horizon 6? How do you think it compares to previous entries? Which Horizon game is your favourite of all time? Let us know down below.

Marking the first entry in the series to be developed exclusively for current-gen systems, Playground Games’ Forza Horizon 6 has been one of Microsoft’s most anticipated releases for 2026. Amassing over 1 million players during its advanced access period, the latest entry in the beloved racing series officially arrived for the masses less than a week ago – already surpassing 6 million total players.

Taking to Twitter to make the announcement, the team at Playground Games shared early performance stats for Forza Horizon 6, confirming that the title exceeded 6 million players just days following its full release.

As mentioned, Forza Horizon 6 – as with most first-party Xbox titles – was made available a few days early for all those who coughed up for the premium edition, giving players 4 days of advanced access. During this period, Horizon 6 saw over 1.4 million players; notable given that all 1+ million would have had to pay for the privilege.

In contrast, this recent 6 million number includes all those who have checked the game out using Xbox Game Pass – meaning 6 million players does not equate to 6 million copies sold.

Unfortunately, Microsoft does not share actual sales data anymore, instead opting only to release player numbers, and so we will likely never learn exactly how many copies are being sold. Regardless, 6 million players in just a couple days is a major achievement.

It will be interesting to learn how many players Forza Horizon 6 will have amassed by the time the title lands on PlayStation.

KitGuru says: Are you one of the 6 million players? Did you purchase the game, or are you playing it through Game Pass? Let us know down below.

Prior to the rise of Reddit, Discord and the like, video game forums were a popular way for fans of a particular franchise to engage with their community; discussing past, present and future titles. One such site which has persisted for decades now is the ‘Forza Forums’. Unfortunately, while celebrating the platform’s 20th anniversary, the team officially confirmed that the Forza Forums will be shutting down next month.

Taking to the Forza Forums to make the announcement, the franchise’s Community Manager officially confirmed the unfortunate news, writing: “For the past two decades, the Forza Forums have provided a place for official game info, troubleshooting, shared tips between players, contests, and feedback from the Forza Community.”

They continued, “the Forums will continue to remain active through the launch of Forza Horizon 6 in May; on June 30, 2026, the Forums will be taken offline.”

While a disappointing conclusion, what is perhaps even more unfortunate is the fact that “we do not plan to archive or replace the Forums in their current form” – meaning 20 years of fan discourse will be wiped from the internet.

Of course, there are plenty of other avenues for fans to engage with the community, including the official Forza Discord server, Steam forums and Subreddit.

Still, this latest announcement comes as quite the disappointment, especially with Forza Horizon 6 right around the corner.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of this announcement? Do you use dedicated game forums in today’s day and age? Let us know down below.

Forza Horizon 5 marked one of the biggest first-party Xbox games to come to PS5, with the 2021 open-world racing title releasing back in April of last year to near-immediate success. Since then, sales have continued to truck along, with FH5 co-developer Virtuous Games confirming that over 5 million copies have been sold on PS5 alone.

As part of the ‘Success Stories’ section of their website, Virtuous Games (known for co-developing a ton of titles ranging from Astral Chain to Mortal Kombat and even Call of Duty) revealed that Forza Horizon 5 has officially sold over 5 million copies on PS5, writing:

“Our multidisciplinary teams contributed extensively across art production, engine enhancement, performance optimization, and tooling development to help deliver a visually breathtaking and technically robust racing experience. Forza Horizon 5 was one of the best-selling titles on PlayStation 5 in 2025, surpassing 5 million copies sold on the platform and earning widespread acclaim.”

This isn’t the first time that this 5 million figure has been floated, with analyst firm Alinea claiming back in January that they believed the title had surpassed this milestone. That said, this latest report marks the first official confirmation of its PS5 sales success.

Considering the fact that Forza Horizon 5 arrived on PS5 years after its initial release, it will be interesting to see how Forza Horizon 6 performs when it lands on PlayStation mere months following its Xbox/PC launch.

KitGuru says: Are you one of the 5 million players? Will you be picking up FH6 day-one? Let us know down below.

Forza Horizon 6 brings back the Horizon Festival to racing game fans nearly five years after the previous installment. It's by far the longest time between releases in the open world racing franchise, but it was not borne out of any sort of issues; on the contrary, Playground Games has focused until recently on continuous updates for Forza Horizon 5, which received unanimous acclaim and incredible commercial success, even on PlayStation 5 when it launched on Sony's console. Initially conceived as a more relaxed, fun-focused spin-off of Turn 10's racing simulation series, Forza Motorsport, Forza Horizon grew with each game […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/roundup/forza-horizon-6-everything-we-know-about-the-japan-bound-game/

In the lead up to the upcoming release of Playground Games’ Forza Horizon 6, the team have been sharing an increasing number of details pertaining to all aspects of the game, from its open-world to the return of Seasonal changes and more. As part of their latest deep-dive, Playground Games have confirmed that Forza Horizon 6 is upping the ante with its customisation – offering hundreds of new options.

As part of the latest Forza Horizon 6 deep-dive (made in partnership with IGN), Playground Games have detailed many of the sweeping changes which have been made to vehicle customisation.

The full breakdown can be found HERE, but some of the most notable additions include:

• 100+ New Rims
• New Paintable Tow Hooks
• New Widebody Kits
• New Paintable Forza Wings
• New Paint Materials
• Re-designed tread pattern and tyre wear
• Separate front and back rims
• Fully customisable and sharable garages

One of the most enjoyable parts of a racing game for many is its customisation, letting you personalise and improve your vehicle as you yourself improve.

While the Forza Horizon series has rested on its laurels somewhat in recent years, it is exciting to see many fan-requested features coming (or returning) to Forza Horizon 6.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for Forza Horizon 6? Does this have the potential to be the best open-world racer? How big of a deal is customisation to you? Let us know down below.

Back in 2022, former Forza Horizon developers started up a new independent studio with the goal of creating a new open-world driving game. This new game was set to be published by Amazon Games but a recent shake-up of Amazon's game development and publishing business has now led to the deal being scrapped.

Amazon Games has withdrawn from its publishing agreement with Maverick Games. The decision leaves Maverick’s debut project, a narrative‑led open‑world driving game for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, without a publisher.

In its statement on the move, an Amazon spokesperson told The Game Business:

“As part of our strategic evolution to focus on projects that leverage Amazon’s unique strengths and scale, including the recent re-launch of Luna and our Tomb Raider franchise partnership with Crystal Dynamics, we have decided to release Maverick Games from their publishing agreement with Amazon Game Studios. We have tremendous respect for the Maverick Games team and the compelling narrative-led driving experience they’re creating. This decision allows Maverick Games the flexibility to find a publishing partner whose strategic priorities are better aligned with bringing their game to market.”

Maverick Games has already confirmed plans to continue working on the game and it will be searching for a new publishing partner. At this point, the game should be quite far along, so it could feasibly be ready for a 2027 release window.

The move comes during a period of significant contraction for Amazon’s gaming ambitions. Over the past year, the company has cut most of its MMO development staff, including teams behind New World: Aeternum and an untitled Lord of the Rings MMO. Amazon has also shut down the recently released co‑op title King of Meat and sold the unreleased MOBA March of Giants to Ubisoft.

While Amazon has scaled back its gaming operations quite significantly, Amazon does still have some key publishing projects coming up, including two new Tomb Raider games from Crystal Dynamics.

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KitGuru Says: With so many gaming companies making cuts in recent years, this does not feel like a good time to be in search of funding.