Forza Horizon 6 is already proving to be one of the biggest game launches of the year. After officially releasing to everyone, the new open-world racing title has completely smashed the series’ previous Steam records for the franchise, reaching player numbers more than three times higher than Forza Horizon 5.

What makes this even more impressive is that the game managed to pull this off despite leaking online before release, partly due to its lack of Denuvo DRM protection. You’d probably expect leaks and piracy to disrupt the official launch, but that clearly didn’t slow down players from jumping into Playground Games’ newest racing title.

Forza Horizon 6 player count enjoys a massive jump on full launch day

Before the full launch, players who purchased the expensive Premium Edition were given early access starting on May 15. Even during that limited access period, the game was already putting up huge numbers, hitting more than 170,000 concurrent players on Steam.

However, things exploded after the standard edition officially launched worldwide on May 19. According to SteamDB data, the game quickly climbed to over 273,000 concurrent players on Steam. That is a massive jump compared to Forza Horizon 5, which peaked at around 81,000 players when it launched back in 2021.

The numbers also make Forza Horizon 6 the biggest racing game launch Steam has ever seen. It has now set a new benchmark not only for the Forza Horizon franchise, but also for the racing genre as a whole on Valve’s platform.

There are several reasons behind the game’s massive popularity. One of the biggest is definitely the setting. Fans have wanted a Japan-based Forza Horizon game for years, and Playground Games finally delivered. Positive reviews also helped build momentum before launch day arrived. Many players who started during the Premium Edition early access period shared clips, screenshots, and gameplay online, which only increased the hype further.

Another important detail is that these Steam numbers probably don’t even show the full picture. The game is also available through Xbox Game Pass, meaning a huge number of players are likely playing through Microsoft’s subscription service instead of buying it directly on Steam. Because of that, the actual player count across all platforms could be far higher.

About the Author

Abdul Haddi

Abdul is a tech writer and Editor for PC Guide, specializing in all things tech, gaming, and hardware.