Xbox Game Forza Horizon 5 is a Big Hit on PS5

Summary

Forza Horizon 5's PS5 launch saw huge pre-order success, topping the PlayStation sales charts in multiple countries.
Over 700,000 new players jumped on the game after its launch on PS5, marking a significant increase.
The game offers substantial upgrades on the PS5 Pro, making it the best console to experience Forza Horizon 5.

Forza Horizon 5 is already a big hit on PlayStation 5 a day after its PS5 launch, despite the title once being a Microsoft exclusive. The racing game originally came out in 2021 on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One and quickly became a fan favorite as well as a critical success. Nearly four years later, Fora Horizon 5 has bridged the gap to Sony consoles, and it's been good news for the game and the studio behind it.

There was a considerable amount of hype behind the title's PS5 launch before release day. Shortly after pre-orders went live, Forza Horizon 5 topped PlayStation sales charts in several countries, becoming the most pre-ordered title on the PlayStation store in the UK, France, Germany, and a handful of other regions. Now the game is finally available on PS5, and it looks like that excitement has not died down.

Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 Requires a Microsoft Account

Official messaging confirms Forza Horizon 5 will mandate a Microsoft account login on PS5, inciting some long-term preservation concerns.

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By Viraaj Bhatnagar

As a thread on ResetEra highlighted, Forza Horizon 5 sat at just over 45.1 million players 12 hours before its PS5 release. At the end of the first day after coming to PlayStation, that number had shot up to over 45.8 million. That seems to suggest that nearly 700,000 players have jumped on the game's PS5 release, although it's worth noting that new users on Xbox and PC may also contribute to that total. Regardless, it's an impressive jump for the game, especially considering that there is no physical version of Forza Horizon 5 for PlayStation, so any PS5 traffic has to come entirely from digital sales.

Forza Horizon 5 Gains Nearly 700,000 New Players After PS5 Launch

Despite being an Xbox-owned title, the racing game gets some special treatment on Sony consoles. The base PS5 version runs largely the same as it does on Xbox Series X, but Forza Horizon 5 has substantial improvements on PS5 Pro, making Sony's high-end system the best way to experience the game on consoles. Those upgrades may have helped encourage more people to get the title on PlayStation, but Sony fans finally being able to get their hands on a once-Microsoft-exclusive likely went a long way, too.

This isn't the first time Microsoft has benefited from releasing its games on Sony consoles. In December 2024, 64% of spending on Xbox titles came from PlayStation users, with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, in particular, getting a big boost from PS5 owners. Over the past few years, Microsoft has been slowly moving away from console exclusivity, and Sony has brought its fair share of former PlayStation exclusives to PC, too. It seems like that shift is working well for both companies, and the trend is likely to continue.

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