Forza Horizon 6 breaks steam records during early access and it hasn’t even launched yet

Forza Horizon 6 is doing something remarkable: it’s breaking records before most people have even had a chance to play it.

The numbers are staggering

As things stand, Forza Horizon 6 has peaked at over 172,000 concurrent players on Steam, and that’s during early access, which requires either a £120 premium edition or a Game Pass upgrade to get in. For comparison, Forza Horizon 5 hit a peak of 81,096 on its actual launch day. Horizon 6 has more than doubled that figure before the general release even arrives on 19 May.

To put it further into context, Forza Horizon 4 peaked at 75,689 on Steam, though it’s worth noting that game came to Steam later in its life. Forza Motorsport, meanwhile, sits at the bottom of the pile with a peak of just 4,703. The gap is almost hard to believe.

Why so many people are paying to get Forza Horizon 6 early

Japan was one of the most requested settings in the history of the series, and Playground Games delivered. There’s something magnetic about seeing iconic Japanese landscapes recreated at that level of fidelity, it’s the kind of setting that makes people want to just drive around and look.

Forza Horizon 6 has also been landing well with critics, which is clearly helping build that momentum ahead of launch.

This is only the beginning

Here’s the thing: the 172,000 figure only represents players who paid extra to get in early. When the full Game Pass rollout hits on 19 May, that number could climb significantly. Playground Games appears to have something genuinely special on their hands, the data is already making that case.

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