Forza Horizon 6 Sold Half a Million Copies on Steam

The upcoming Forza Horizon 6, which is by far the most anticipated racing game of 2026, is set to release next month, on May 19. Recently, Playground Games introduced the map of the upcoming game, which is said to be “the most dense and vertical map yet”.

Microsoft is definitely betting a lot on Forza Horizon 6 from a financial point of view, and there are chances the game could be successful not only on Xbox Series X/S but on PC as well. The new report from Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics reveals that Forza Horizon 6 has already sold 500,000 copies on Steam as pre-orders, which is approximately $30 million. Moreover, according to Elliott, the latest Playground Games installment could sell about 2 million copies when the game releases on May 19. More detailed information from the analyst you can check out below:

“Forza Horizon 6 has pre-sold 500K on Steam, and it's still got a month until launch (Alinea Analytics estimates)

All signals point to Forza Horizon 6's first year being a record-breaking one for the series. And it's some much-needed good news at team Xbox.

Taking regional pricing and different editions into consideration, Forza Horizon 6 is nearing $30M on Steam. It’s already the best-selling Forza title on Steam pre-launch. Based on comparisons to other known quantities and major sequels, pre-sales this high point to Horizon 6 clearing 2M units on Steam in its first 24 hours.

Horizon 6 still has another four weeks of marketing momentum to capitalise on. And based on how receptive buyers and prospects have been to the marketing so far, we expect the hype and number to continue ticking up.

The US remains Forza’s biggest country across platforms. But changing market/platform dynamics since the launch of Forza Horizon 5 have given its imminent sequel a much bigger launch total addressable market at launch. China is currently Horizon 6’s #2 market by wishlisters. About 6% of Steam wishlists are from Japan (#4), which is way higher than any previous entry in the series.

Obviously, the Japanese setting is a massive deal for gamers and racing fans in Japan itself (I know I was chuffed when they did Britain). Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) car culture is bloody massive globally too. Fans have been dying for this setting for over a decade.

While PC gaming has grown rapidly in Japan since the pandemic, the real prize for racing games in that market remains the console space. As Xbox is essentially a non-factor in the Japanese hardware market, and with no Switch 2 version currently announced, the PS5 edition of Forza Horizon 6 later this year is the only viable path to monetise much of the Japanese console audience.

Forza Horizon 6 launch sales performance on Steam and Xbox at launch will be a huge signal for Sharma and her strategists, as will the PS5 port later this year. If the indicators are all positive, and I believe they will be, they will show that for the modern Xbox, ‘‘winning’’ is about capturing the highest possible share of the global gaming wallet regardless of the silicon it runs on. That’s the end game here.

Anyway, Forza Horizon 6 is going to be bloody massive for Xbox at a critical time and following an off-year for CoD.”

Forza Horizon 6 is the latest installment from Playground Games. The new game takes players to Japan, where Tokyo will be the biggest city in Forza Horizon’s history. The game will include more than 550 vehicles at the start, customization, new racing modes, dynamic changes in weather conditions, the ability to buy houses and decorate garages, and more.

Are you excited for Forza Horizon 6? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The game will release on May 19 for PC and Xbox Series X/S. The version for PlayStation 5 will be available later in 2026.