Forza Horizon 6 Shatters Franchise Record During Early Access Launch

Even before its full global release, Forza Horizon 6 has already become the most-played title in the franchise on Steam. Available currently through early access for players who purchased the Premium Edition, the highly anticipated racing game has generated massive excitement among fans worldwide.

Developed by Playground Games, the latest installment takes players to Japan for the first time in the series’ history — a setting fans have been requesting for years. The game’s stunning open-world environments and refined gameplay have helped it earn outstanding early reviews, including a 91 Top Critic Average on OpenCritic.

According to SteamDB, Forza Horizon 6 reached an impressive peak of 178,009 concurrent players during its early access period alone. This easily surpasses the previous franchise record held by Forza Horizon 5, which peaked at 81,096 concurrent players on Steam.

What makes the achievement even more remarkable is that the game has not officially launched for standard edition players yet. Since early access is limited to Premium Edition owners, the player count is expected to rise significantly once the full release arrives on May 19.

The strong launch performance also adds to the growing success story of 2026 gaming releases. Alongside titles like Lost and Found Co. and Pokemon Pokopia, Forza Horizon 6 is now among the highest-rated games of the year.

While player feedback has been largely positive, some fans have already shared requests for improvements and quality-of-life updates. With the game’s launch momentum continuing to build, many expect Playground Games to roll out post-launch patches and new content updates in the coming weeks.

Sources: Gamerant