Slightly over one month before the Forza Horizon 6 launch date of May 19, Playground Games and Microsoft are likely already happy with the pre-sales of the next open world racing game.
According to Alinea Analytics estimates, Forza Horizon 6 has already sold more than 500K (511K to be exact) on Steam alone, generating over $28 million in gross revenue. That's already enough to make it the franchise's best-selling game pre-launch, and there's every indication this trend will continue in the lead-up to May 19 and beyond. The game is in the wishlists of more than 3.3 million users, for one thing. Overall, Alinea Analytics expects the game to blast past 2 million units sold on Steam within the first 24 hours of its availability on Valve's store.
The gaming analyst firm credits this partly to the marketing campaign. Earlier this month, there was a first spike in pre-orders when the first previews and gameplay footage went live, and then another spike a few days ago after the developers revealed the full list of achievements. Apparently, the Forza Horizon community was glad to learn that the Battle Royale-style Eliminator mode was cut from the list of achievements, and they also welcomed the return of Wristbands and the introduction of Japan-specific content, as well as a more solo-friendly path to full achievements completion. On April 13, the date of the achievements reveal, Forza Horizon 6 sold 22K units, the second-best-selling day after the pre-order opening day.
Beyond these Forza Horizon 6 estimates, the Alinea Analytics report also discusses the recent rumor that new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma might be re-evaluating (once again) its approach to exclusive games and multiplatform releases. According to analyst Rhys Elliott, Xbox is likely in the middle of a transition away from traditional consoles and toward PC, as evidenced by the fact that the next-generation console, Project Helix, will be a console-PC hybrid.
The analyst doesn't see a return to full Xbox exclusivity as viable, especially at a time when Microsoft is bleeding money from its massive investments in AI. Instead, he foresees a path where a few big franchises like Call of Duty, Minecraft, Forza, and Elder Scrolls remain multiplatform, while other, more niche games could remain exclusive to Xbox (and PC) and away from platforms like PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.
We'll likely know whether he's right in the next few months, once Sharma has landed on a new strategy (which, according to her leaked internal memo, includes a rework of Game Pass). As for Forza Horizon 6, you can find all the known info on our dedicated roundup page.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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