Forza Horizon 6 Has Already Reached a Major Milestone

Forza Horizon 6 has already sold half a million copies, roughly a month ahead of its release. While franchises like Gears of War and Halo may be among the most recognizable Xbox properties, Forza has consistently delivered results for Microsoft, and it’s been on a particularly hot streak lately. Despite being weeks out, Forza Horizon 6 is already looking like it’ll set a new bar for the series.

After months of leaks and speculation, Playground Games revealed Forza Horizon 6 at the Tokyo Game Show 2025, confirming its much-anticipated Japanese setting and a 2026 release window. It was a welcome development for fans after the success of the last FH game and the saddening news that Xbox was phasing out the Forza Motorsport series. Since then, the hype has only grown as Playground has released more information, and that excitement is showing through in the game’s pre-orders.

Forza Horizon 6 Map Officially Revealed

The official Forza Horizon 6 Twitter account shows off the new game’s map, which takes players across Japan in a suite of fancy cars.

Forza Horizon 6 Has Passed 500,000 Pre-Orders on Steam

According to an April 16 report from Alinea Analytics, Forza Horizon 6 has already sold 511,000 copies through Steam pre-orders alone. That’s enough to cement it as the best-selling game in the series in terms of pre-launch Steam figures, and the number likely hasn’t reached its peak yet. With Forza Horizon 6 set to release on May 19, there is still roughly a month left to go for more people to pre-order the title and add to the estimated $30 million Alinea says the game has already generated from Steam. FH6 has also already garnered over 3 million wishlists on the platform, so there could still be significant gains ahead.

The Alinea report says the bulk of the pre-orders have come from the United States, but the Forza franchise is branching further into new territory. Most notably, FH6 has gotten more wishlists from Japan than any previous Forza game, which could stem from the game’s setting. Others have already pointed out how Forza Horizon 6‘s Japanese setting is likely part of Xbox’s broader strategy to grow its presence in the country, a market where it has historically failed to make much of a splash compared to rivals Nintendo and Sony. Only time will tell if this game marks a turning point for that trend, but it at least seems like a solid start so far.

It’s also worth noting that these impressive figures only represent part of the game’s full player base. While FH6 won’t be available on PS5 at launch, it will come to PlayStation later in 2026, and when it does, it could pay off in a big way for Xbox. After the franchise abandoned console exclusivity, Forza Horizon 5 sold over 2.2 million copies on PS5, generating more than $100 million in revenue from the console. If the same trend continues with this latest release, the sixth Forza Horizon title could be a big moment for the franchise, which has already become one of the more valuable Xbox properties not acquired from another company.

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According to Alinea, Steam currently accounts for roughly 15% of FH5‘s player base. That means the 500,000 in pre-orders Forza Horizon 6 has already snagged may reflect less than one-fifth of the game’s potential market. Whether this holds true and how it might impact Xbox’s reported conversations about making exclusives again is unclear, but what is clear is that Forza Horizon 6 is gearing up for a big release.