Forza Horizon 6 hits 130k Steam players in early access, already crushing FH5's all-time peak

Forza Horizon 6 hit 130,000 concurrent players on Steam during its early access window, according to GamesRadar+. That's already more than Forza Horizon 5's all-time peak. The catch: only people who paid $120 for the Premium Edition got in early. Full launch is still ahead.

FH5 peaked at around 80,000 on Steam at launch in 2021, so this is a meaningful jump. The series has grown on PC, helped by Game Pass crossover and steady updates to the previous game. FH6 runs on a newer build of the ForzaTech engine with updated lighting and physics.

This is a strong signal for the racing genre on PC. If 130k players dropped $120 before the standard release, the full launch numbers should go higher. The game supports DLSS 3, FSR 3, and XeSS out of the gate, so mid-range cards have options.

If you're planning to jump in, check the optimization guide to see which settings actually move the framerate needle. The game scales well, but a few toggles make a big difference on older hardware.