Forza Horizon 6 has officially launched worldwide, and its Steam numbers are already far beyond the previous games in the series. After reaching more than 170,000 concurrent Steam players during early access, Playground Games’ new racer has now climbed past 270,000 concurrent players following its full release.
The game launched for standard edition buyers and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members on May 19, 2026, after a five day early access period for Premium Edition owners. The Steam result is especially strong because it only shows one part of the total audience. It does not include Xbox console players, Microsoft Store players, or people playing through cloud.
Forza Horizon 6 is also the first game in the series to use Japan as its setting, something fans have requested for years. That setting appears to be helping the game build momentum, alongside strong reviews and the usual appeal of the series’ open world racing.
| Game | Steam peak concurrent players |
|---|---|
| Forza Horizon 6 | More than 270,000 |
| Forza Horizon 5 | Around 80,000 |
| Forza Horizon 4 | Around 75,000 |
The jump over Forza Horizon 5 is huge. Forza Horizon 5 peaked at around 80,000 concurrent Steam players, while Forza Horizon 4 reached around 75,000. Forza Horizon 6 has already more than tripled those numbers at launch.
The early access performance was already impressive because players had to buy the Premium Edition or Premium Upgrade to start early. Now that the standard edition and Game Pass access are live, the audience has expanded quickly.
The game’s reception has helped too. Forza Horizon 6 has received very strong critic scores, with a 91 rating on Metacritic from reviewers. That makes it one of the best reviewed games of 2026 so far and adds more attention around launch week.
The Steam number may climb again as more players join after work, during the weekend, or after hearing about the launch. If it keeps rising, Forza Horizon 6 could set a new benchmark for racing games on Steam.
For Xbox, this is a strong result. The game is available through Game Pass, but many players are still choosing to buy or play it on Steam. That shows how much demand exists for the series outside Microsoft’s own subscription and store ecosystem.
Forza Horizon 6 was already expected to be one of Xbox’s biggest releases of the year. With more than 270,000 concurrent players on Steam alone, it now looks like one of the strongest PC launches the Forza Horizon series has ever had.
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