Forza Horizon 6 isn't even technically here yet, but those with advanced access can start playing right now. Evidently, quite a few of you have paid the extra for that early access since, as soon as the game launched, it blew Forza Horizon 5's concurrent player peak on Steam out of the water.

Almost 120,000 People Were Waiting At Forza Horizon 6's Door On Steam Alone

forza-horizon-6-press-image-12.jpg

According to SteamDB, almost 120,000 people were waiting to play Forza Horizon 6 when its advanced access gates opened on Steam in the early hours of this morning. That number has since crept up past 120,000, and since it's still very early in the morning in the US, where the bulk of this game's players will likely be, that number is only going to keep getting higher over the course of the day and into the weekend.

Cherry Blossoms in Forza Horizon 6.
Hardware Bans Are Being Handed Out To Forza Horizon 6 Pirates

Playground Games has acknowledged that Forza Horizon 6 was leaked early.

For comparison, Forza Horizon 5, which was also incredibly popular, topped out at 81,000 players on Steam when it launched, so the newest entry in the series has already taken its crown. The only other game in the series available on Steam, Forza Horizon 4, peaked at 75,000, which means the record set by 6 this morning is a new high for the franchise.

The question now is just how high can Forza Horizon 6's concurrent player count go? Not only is it still Friday morning with the weekend still to come, but the latest Xbox game still hasn't technically been released yet. Forza Horizon 6 will get a full launch on May 19, at which point all of those who didn't want to pay the extra for advanced access will start up their engines and join the party.

Don't Forget Everyone Playing On Xbox

On top of all that, these numbers only represent one platform, and it's not even the game's primary platform. There's no way to know for sure whether there are more people playing on Xbox, but it seems likely that's the case. There almost certainly will be from next week when the game gets a full launch, as after that, it will be available on Game Pass Ultimate.

There's still the PS5 release to come, too. Forza Horizon 5 released on Xbox's rival platform last year and quickly sold millions. There will be a far shorter wait for the latest entry to arrive on PS5, at which point its sales will surge yet again. Between 120,000 players out of the gate on Steam and the highest review scores for any game so far this year, it already feels safe to say Forza Horizon 6 has been a huge success for Xbox, and it's only been here for a few hours.

forza-horizon-6-tag-page-cover-art.jpg
Racing
Open-World
Systems
Top Critic Avg: 91/100 Critics Rec: 100%
Released
May 19, 2026
ESRB
Everyone / Mild Lyrics, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases
Developer(s)
Playground Games
Publisher(s)
Xbox Game Studios
forza-horizon-6-press-image-1.jpg

WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
PHYSICAL

Genre(s)
Racing, Open-World