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40 Million People Played Forza Horizon 5, So Why Is It Still Missing From PlayStation 5?

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40 Million People Played Forza Horizon 5, So Why Is It Still Missing From PlayStation 5?

While Forza Motorsport is on life support and can barely pedal, Forza Horizon 5 is doing better than ever, with over 40,000,000 people playing it at any given time. Of course, that doesn’t mean all 40 million are active, but it’s enough that many were at least curious and tried the arcade-style racing game at least once. So if it’s so successful… why isn’t it on PlayStation yet?

Aside from the PlayStation ecosystem, Forza Horizon 5 is pretty much everywhere. Not on Nintendo Switch, of course, but you can play it on PC (granted, it runs on Windows 10/11), Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and even GeForce Now. To play it on the latter streaming platform, you’ll need to own the game first, either via the PC Xbox app or Steam. It’s currently $60, but it’s frequently discounted . The cheapest way to play it is via Game Pass; the Ultimate tier costs $20 a month, while the PC subscription is more affordable at $12.

If you’ve never subscribed to this service before, you’re in luck, because it’s only $1 for a 14-day trial. If you do take advantage of the two-week offer, be sure to cancel your subscription before it expires, or you’ll be charged the full amount of your chosen service.

Xbox recently decided to ax Forza Horizon 4 , but the fifth installment is thriving. On Steam, just over 20,000 people have played it in the past 24 hours, with a record high of 81,096 when it launched. Forza Motorsport, by comparison, is on life support, with barely any players. Its 24-hour peak was 712, with a maximum of 4,703 at launch.

Xbox Exclusive Games on PlayStation

Photo: Xbox

Forza Horizon 5 is one of the best racing titles from Xbox Game Studios and one of the best and most fun racing games ever made. Its only real competitor is Ubisoft’s The Crew Motorfest, which was developed by Ivory Tower. Motorfest is a very good open-world arcade racer, as is Forza Horizon 5. Fortunately, they can coexist peacefully and offer enthusiasts options.

Since its launch in early November 2021, Horizon 5 has been the absolute pinnacle of its genre, remaining unchallenged until Motorfest hit the market in September 2023. While Ubisoft’s game still has a long way to go before it reaches Horizon 5 figures, it does have one advantage over Forza: it’s available on PlayStation.

With nearly 60 million consoles sold by mid-May 2024, the PlayStation 5 is beating the Xbox by a landslide. In a video interview with Kinda Funny Games, even Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer admitted: “With the Xbox One, we lost the worst generation ever.He also pointed out,It is not our intention to surpass Sony or Nintendo in console technology,“while adding: “There isn’t really a good solution for us.“

According to industry analysts, PlayStation 5 sold 4.5 million units last quarter, which is 5 times more than Xbox Series X|S consoles, which is incomprehensible. That’s one of the main reasons why Xbox gave up on climbing the hardware ladder and started focusing on software like Game Pass.

Future Xbox Games

Photo: Xbox

It’s a shame they don’t make PlayStation quality first party titles and blundered with Halo Infinite, Redfall, Forza Motorsport, Hellblade 2, etc., but they did have success with Starfield. This still led to the closure of four studios, including those with titles they called successful, like Hi-Fi Rush.

Matt Booty, Head of Xbox Game Studios, said: “In order to further expand these franchises and invest in new franchises, we need to examine the entire business to identify the best opportunities for success.“

Following these massive failures, Xbox ported a number of first-party games to PlayStation 5, including Grounded, Sea of ​​Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush, and Pentiment. Rumors say that flagship first-party titles including Forza and Halo are also on their way to the PlayStation ecosystem.

Hopefully, their upcoming day one Game Pass titles like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Stalker 2, Avowed, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Doom: The Dark Ages, and more will make waves and regain the glory the company once had during the Xbox 360 era.

PlayStation Userbase

Photo: Sony

According to industry sources, Forza Horizon 5 had 4.5 million players on launch day alone. It reached 10 million in a week, 15 million in two months, 20 million in seven months, 30 million in 18 months, and 37 million in two years and three months by February 2024.

So, with over 40,000,000 players worldwide, the only sensible questions remain: When is Forza Horizon 5 coming to PlayStation, and what others will follow? As you can imagine, Xbox won’t just be releasing one title at a time, but that they’ll be coming in waves, much like the previous four games.

As of late May 2024, a report from Sony suggested that PlayStation 5 and PS4 had 97 million monthly active users combined. Console users were split right in the middle, at 49 million per console generation. That begs the question: does Xbox miss the opportunity to tap into such a massive market with around 50 million active PS4 players out in the wild? Or will the game simply be a PS5-only release?

Hopefully, all of these questions will be answered in 2024, along with the release of the titles themselves. The PlayStation ecosystem is going to explode in the best way possible when Forza Horizon 5, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Halo Infinite, the Gears of War franchise, Starfield, and other previously Xbox exclusives arrive. And that’s without even mentioning the upcoming games including Perfect Dark, State of Decay 3, South of Midnight, and more.

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