Forza Horizon 5 has reached an impressive milestone in less than three years after its launch. The game remains one of the most successful Xbox first-party games.
According to Forza Horizon 5’s in-game tracker (spotted by Snap Blast Play), the game has reached 40 million players since its launch on November 9, 2021.
It is unclear how the user base is split between platforms (Xbox, PC) and how many people have actually purchased Forza Horizon 5, but here are the key milestones in its lifecycle:
- 4.5 million players — in less than 24 hours (the “largest launch day for XGS game,” according to Phil Spencer);
- 10 million players — in one week (at the time, the biggest first week in the history of Xbox and Game Pass);
- 15 million players — in two months (January 2022);
- 20 million players — in seven months (June 2022);
- 30 million players — in 18 months (May 2023);
- 37 million players — in two years and three months (February 2024).
🟢 Forza Horizon 5 on Xbox hit 40 Million Players pic.twitter.com/FUbJ8KVVw9
— Snap Blast PLAY (@SnapBlastPLAY) July 14, 2024
The most played Xbox games this generation
Note: These are official figures, excluding any estimates from third-party analytics platforms. The list only includes games released since the launch of Xbox Series X|S and for which Microsoft has disclosed player numbers. Also keep in mind that the company doesn’t report copies sold, preferring more vague stats, so it is unclear how many users purchased each game and how many tried it through Game Pass.
- Forza Horizon 5 | November 2021 — 40 million players (as of July 2024);
- Grounded | September 2022 (1.0 launch) — 20 million players (as of February 2024) since its Early Access launch in July 2020;
- Halo Infinite | December 2021 — 20 million players (as of January 2022, so it is unclear how many new players have tried the game in the last two and a half years);
- Microsoft Flight Simulator | August 2020 (Windows), July 2021 (Xbox Series) — 15 million players (as of June 2024);
- Starfield | September 2023 — 14 million players (as of June 2024);
- Ghostwire: Tokyo | March 2022 (PC, PS5), April 2023 (Xbox Series) — 6 million players (as of September 2023, also includes users who played it on PlayStation 5);
- Deathloop | September 2021 (PC, PS5), September 2022 (Xbox Series) — 5 million players (as of February 2023, also includes users who played it on PlayStation 5);
- Minecraft Legends | April 2023 — 3 million players in less than two weeks (no further data available);
- Hi-Fi Rush | January 2023 — 3 million players (as of August 2023, so it is unclear how many new players have tried the game in the last 11 months).
There is also Minecraft Dungeons, which came out in May 2020, just a few months before the global launch of Xbox Series X|S. In August 2023, Mojang announced that the game has been played by more than 25 million users.
While Forza Horizon 5 is likely the biggest Xbox title this generation by player numbers, Microsoft operates other successful titles. For example, Sea of Thieves, released in March 2018, surpassed 40 million players in April 2024 — just weeks before its launch on PlayStation 5.
The list above also doesn’t include games released and/or developed before Microsoft closed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October 2023 — e.g. Diablo IV (12 million players as of August 2023), Overwatch 2 (35 million players in its first month), and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.