Less than 24 hours after its release, the new game from Playground Games had already gathered more than 4.5 million players!
Officially available since November 9, Forza Horizon 5 is - logically - the fifth installment of the famous car franchise. In reality, the game is part of the larger Forza series, which is one of the main console "exclusives" for the Xbox. "Exclusives" because, in reality, the game was also released on PC at the same time as Xbox One and on Microsoft's next generation of home consoles, the Xbox Series X and S duo.
It's an understatement to say that the game was eagerly awaited, as no Forza had ever been released on the Xbox Series. As early as November 5th, the early access to the game had set the tone: indeed, Microsoft announced that 850,000 players had registered. To make sure it would be a hit, Microsoft decided to integrate Forza Horizon 5 into Xbox Game Pass, its subscription-based video game system, and on November 10, Phil Spencer himself talked about the game's success on Twitter.
We've invested for years in Xbox so more people can play. With 4.5+ million players so far across PC, cloud & console, Forza Horizon 5 shows that promise coming to life. Largest launch day for XGS game, peak concurrent 3x FH4 high. Thank you players & congrats to @WeArePlayground
- Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) November 10, 2021
Note that Forza Horizon 5 is not presented as a realistic driving simulation, and while Forza Motorsport is more about that, the Horizon series is about driving fun and immediate enjoyment. The game takes the form of an open world that can be explored at will to take part in countless challenges/competitions. A formula that works perfectly since the first opus - in 2012 already - and which is therefore applied to the Mexican settings of this fifth opus.
If the driving is not necessarily ultra-realistic, the developers of Playground Games have on the other hand taken special care in the reconstruction of real environments. To speak of photorealism as we do in the title is perhaps a bit excessive, but the fact is that the studio has taken iconic places of Mexico to integrate them into its game and the result is eloquent. To convince you of the aesthetic quality of this Forza Horizon 5, we invite you to watch this comparative video.
