Forza Horizon 5 launch smashes Xbox record on first day

The Forza Horizon 5 launch is already breaking records boasting the highest player count Xbox Game Studios history.

Every Forza Horizon launch tends to be bigger than the last with Forza Horizon 4 absolutely crushing it when it was released in 2018. Now it looks like Microsoft’s trip south of the border in Forza Horizon 5 is also enjoying overwhelming success.

Head of Xbox and regular spokesperson Phil Spencer said that the game has already exceeded 4.5 million active players on all platforms. That’s an impressive number less than 24 hours on from launch.

Phil Spencer’s Forza Horizon 5 launch tweet

Spencer revealed the figures on Twitter, noting that Horizon 5 represents the “largest launch day” ever for an Xbox Game Studios game. He went on to say that the game has surpassed Forza Horizon 4’s launch by three times the player count, and congratulated Playground Games for their efforts.

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

Why has Horizon 5 been so successful?

A rise in Xbox Game Pass subscriptions may account for the impressive launch figures. Subscriptions to Microsoft’s service have soared since the release of Forza Horizon 4. This could be due to an increase in games added to the platform as well as the launch of the next-gen Xbox consoles last year.

Before it launched on November 9, 2021, Forza Horizon 5 already boasted a player count of over 800,000 thanks to players jumping into the game’s early access. The fact that the headstart was tied to purchases of the game’s more expensive digital versions suggests that Forza Horizon 5 has seen plenty of sales, despite also launching

Playground Games’ next project is a reboot of the beloved Xbox RPG franchise Fable.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pbHXnqmtp16YvK57xaips5lfm7yzxsBmn6iqma%2B8r3mUZqOarZ6YtW6%2FzJqqoZ2jYsWju9dmqZ6bn6exbrvNZp2iqqOpeqWt2GZob3FlbIB4ew%3D%3D