Forza Horizon 6’s early access rakes in $140 million in its first weekend

We're all a little opposed to paying more to play a game early, i.e., on the date when it was actually supposed to come out. But it seems a lot of us are much less insistent on opposition, as Forza Horizon 6's early access is now the franchise's most-played game, not to mention one of the most profitable launches in gaming history. In just two or so days of early access, Forza Horizon 6 has brought in over $140 million for Microsoft and developer Playground Games (via Insider Gaming), even though it's only available to players who forked over $120 a pop. We wrote on Friday how, despite being locked behind this early access program, Forza Horizon 6 is nevertheless the most-played game in the franchise, peaking at 170,000 concurrent players (a number that has since grown to over 181,000), which is more than double Horizon 5's full release. Forza Horizon 6 looks absolutely breathtaking. Screenshot by Destructoid Last week, Forza Horizon 6 also became the best-reviewed game of 2026 with a 92 average score on Metacritic, putting it well above heavy hitters like Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata, to name just a couple. However, fans don't seem to agree that much with critics, as the game now has 78 percent positive reviews on Steam, putting it in the "mostly positive" category. If we only look at English-language reviews, that grows to 85 percent, while Simplified Chinese and its "mixed" reviews seem to be dragging the score down overall, but at this point, I've learned to half-expect that with every AAA release. Nevertheless, folks are flocking to the game en masse and for a good reason. The game looks stunning, it runs well, is set in Japan (which alone was going to be a magnet for players), and offers as much fun as has come to be expected of a Forza title. Our Arka Sarkar scored it a 9, praising the game for pretty much everything but particularly emphasizing the picturesque nature of its romantic Japanese setting. The post Forza Horizon 6’s early access rakes in $140 million in its first weekend appeared first on Destructoid.

May 18, 2026 - 01:44

Forza Horizon 6’s early access rakes in $140 million in its first weekend

We're all a little opposed to paying more to play a game early, i.e., on the date when it was actually supposed to come out. But it seems a lot of us are much less insistent on opposition, as Forza Horizon 6's early access is now the franchise's most-played game, not to mention one of the most profitable launches in gaming history.

In just two or so days of early access, Forza Horizon 6 has brought in over $140 million for Microsoft and developer Playground Games (via Insider Gaming), even though it's only available to players who forked over $120 a pop.

We wrote on Friday how, despite being locked behind this early access program, Forza Horizon 6 is nevertheless the most-played game in the franchise, peaking at 170,000 concurrent players (a number that has since grown to over 181,000), which is more than double Horizon 5's full release.

Forza Horizon 6 looks absolutely breathtaking. Screenshot by Destructoid Last week, Forza Horizon 6 also became the best-reviewed game of 2026 with a 92 average score on Metacritic, putting it well above heavy hitters like Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata, to name just a couple.

However, fans don't seem to agree that much with critics, as the game now has 78 percent positive reviews on Steam, putting it in the "mostly positive" category. If we only look at English-language reviews, that grows to 85 percent, while Simplified Chinese and its
"mixed" reviews seem to be dragging the score down overall, but at this point, I've learned to half-expect that with every AAA release.

Nevertheless, folks are flocking to the game en masse and for a good reason. The game looks stunning, it runs well, is set in Japan (which alone was going to be a magnet for players), and offers as much fun as has come to be expected of a Forza title. Our Arka Sarkar scored it a 9, praising the game for pretty much everything but particularly emphasizing the picturesque nature of its romantic Japanese setting.

The post Forza Horizon 6’s early access rakes in $140 million in its first weekend appeared first on Destructoid.

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