*Forza Horizon 5* sold 5.7 million copies on PS5! Has Microsoft really come around?

Compared with the traditional narrative of platform exclusivity, Forza Horizon 5 feels more like a cross-platform comparison this time. Overseas leaker and blogger @eXtas1stv recently claimed that the game sold 5.7 million copies on the PS5 platform at a very fast pace, and has already become one of Xbox’s best-selling games on PS5. If this figure is accurate, its significance goes beyond simply “making money from a port”; it suggests that among PS users, there has long been a suppressed demand for open-world racing.

If we compare the racing ecosystem on consoles, PS players previously had options like GT, which leans toward a more realistic driving style, while Horizon 5 goes for an open world, a festival vibe, and a lower barrier to entry. The former is like obsessing over every braking point on the track; the latter is more like turning the entire map into a playground. Reaching this level of sales on PS5 is, to some extent, not about taking away someone else’s market, but about filling a gap for a different taste.

By contrast, the changes on the Xbox side are even more intriguing. In the past, Forza Horizon 5 was one of the flagship titles of the Xbox ecosystem, but after crossing over to PS5, it instead proved the brand’s ability to extend beyond its home platform. For players across all platforms, this is different from comparing frame rate and visual quality between the PC and console versions; this time, the comparison is about whether the game itself can still sell on the strength of its content once the “platform wall” is removed. The rumored figure of 5.7 million copies, at the very least, offers a very direct answer.

Viewed from another angle, this also raises expectations for Forza Horizon 6. The leaker also predicted that if the sequel launches on the PS platform, it will receive a strong market response. Players in the community are already voicing sentiments like “I want to play Forza Horizon 6 on PS5 Pro,” and that kind of anticipation is hardly surprising; if PS5 Pro can deliver higher visual quality and more stable frame rates, open-world racing games are more likely than linear games to magnify hardware differences.

In terms of buying advice, if you’re a PS5 player who enjoys open-map exploration and relaxed high-speed driving, the appeal of Horizon 5 is quite clear. It is not a title like GT, which builds its appeal around driving skill and a higher barrier to entry, but one that places greater emphasis on scenery, collection, customization, and social pacing. On the other hand, if all you want is serious competition and detailed tuning, it may not replace traditional sim racing titles.

The real industry signal here is that Xbox games landing on PS do not necessarily weaken the Xbox brand itself. Compared with locking great games to a single platform, the sales feedback after going multiplatform feels more like a public stress test. If the report that the PS5 version of Horizon 5 sold 5.7 million copies is ultimately confirmed, then whether Horizon 6 will launch simultaneously on more platforms in the future will no longer be just a player wish, but a commercially hard-to-ignore option.