Explore how Forza Horizon 6 shattered Steam player count records, why the Japan setting hyped it up, and what now for the future open-world racing games.
Forza Horizon 6 is out now, and it is already shattering records like the series has not seen before. The game has burst onto the scene like a 2019 Aston Martin Vantage flying through the freeway, even before full release, posting huge Steam numbers. In its Premium Edition early access (priced at $119.99), the game reportedly hit over 170,000 concurrent players, shattering the franchise’s previous records.
For context, Forza Horizon 5 peaked at around 81,096 concurrent players on Steam back in 2021. This means that Forza Horizon 6 effectively doubled the series’ best-ever performance before most players could even access the standard version of the game.
Part of the momentum comes from years of fan anticipation. Playground Games finally took the series to Japan, a setting players had been requesting for over a decade. Between neon-lit city streets, mountain passes, and dense countryside roads, the setting alone generated enormous hype long before launch.
Steam communities and Reddit threads have been filled with reactions ranging from excitement to cautious optimism. Early reviews of Forza Horizon 6 have been excellent, garnering a Top Critic Average of 91 on review aggregator site OpenCritic. Some players praised the game’s scale and driving feel, while others reported technical issues, including stuttering on certain AMD systems and launch instability. Still, the overall momentum around the game has remained overwhelmingly strong.
However, just days before release on May 15th, reports surfaced that a massive PC build of the game leaked online. Multiple outlets reported that unencrypted game files became accessible ahead of launch, prompting Playground Games to issue warnings about strict enforcement measures and potential hardware bans for users accessing pirated builds.
Despite the leak and piracy concerns, the game’s popularity doesn’t appear to have slowed down. In fact, some reports suggest the controversy may have amplified attention around the release even further. SteamDB tracking cited by multiple publications showed player counts continuing to rise throughout the early access period.
At this point, Forza Horizon 6 is already shaping up to be one of the biggest racing game launches in recent years. The Horizon formula already had a massive audience, open-world racing remains hugely accessible, and the Japan setting practically functioned like a decades-long wish fulfillment campaign for car fans.
Turns out giving players exactly what they’ve been asking for since 2013 is occasionally an effective product strategy. What remains to be seen, after an overwhelmingly positive response, is how Playground games include the initial feedback into the game.