Photo: PLAYGROUND GAMES
The Forza Horizon franchise has been the staple of open-world racing games for years. Some argue this happened in 2012 with the first Forza on the Xbox 360, while others might have more arguments for the second iteration from 2014. Whatever the case, no one can dispute that Forza Horizon 5 is a game like no other. At least for now, because Ubisoft is brewing The Crew Motorfest, which looks like a Horizon competitor from bumper to bumper. That said, Motorfest has its work cut out because Forza Horizon has just crossed the 30 million player mark.
You can blame publisher Xbox Game Studios for not releasing any major or properly-working AAA titles lately, and the evidence could support that theory with little difficulty. But when it comes to Playground Games, Horizon's developer, finding anything negative to say about their handiwork would prove a difficult task.
Recently, a Twitter user named Idle Sloth posted an image from Forza 5 Horizon saying, "You are in the top 7% of 30,202,687 players." While that 30 million mark is impressive, we could attribute that number to everyone who tried the game. It doesn't mean 30 million people are currently playing Forza Horizon 5.
That's not a dig at the game or anything of the sort. The graphics, gameplay, sound design, and constant care Playground Games are still giving the title deserve more than a praise or two from the community.
Sure, it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Some DLC (downloadable content) wasn't shipshape initially, but fans appreciate that the developer is constantly coming out with new content for the Live Service game.
This appreciation stems from the fact that during the last one or two years, Xbox has yet to release other quality 1st party AAA titles like Forza. Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, was recently interviewed by media and entertainment YouTube channel Kinda Funny Games. Phil didn't deny their inability to deliver the experiences hardcore fans have been craving.
When you take all of that and put Forza Horizon 5's 30 million player headcount and compare it to the dead-on-arrival Redfall, another 1st party title, you can clearly see how much a successful studio like Playground means to the current state of the Xbox ecosystem.
Recently, the studio has been working on more accessibility features like Blind Driving Assists, One Touch Driving, Screen Narrator, Dynamic Audio Description, Text-to-Speech, Speech-to-Text, UI Colorblindness Modes, and many others meant for players who are blind or suffer from low vision.
Forza Horizon 5 is currently on sale for $33 on Steam, but seeing that PC Game Pass recently launched in 40 more countries, you can easily subscribe to that service and play it along with more than 100 other games for half of that price, maybe even less if it's on offer.
Recently, a Twitter user named Idle Sloth posted an image from Forza 5 Horizon saying, "You are in the top 7% of 30,202,687 players." While that 30 million mark is impressive, we could attribute that number to everyone who tried the game. It doesn't mean 30 million people are currently playing Forza Horizon 5.
That's not a dig at the game or anything of the sort. The graphics, gameplay, sound design, and constant care Playground Games are still giving the title deserve more than a praise or two from the community.
Sure, it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Some DLC (downloadable content) wasn't shipshape initially, but fans appreciate that the developer is constantly coming out with new content for the Live Service game.
This appreciation stems from the fact that during the last one or two years, Xbox has yet to release other quality 1st party AAA titles like Forza. Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, was recently interviewed by media and entertainment YouTube channel Kinda Funny Games. Phil didn't deny their inability to deliver the experiences hardcore fans have been craving.
When you take all of that and put Forza Horizon 5's 30 million player headcount and compare it to the dead-on-arrival Redfall, another 1st party title, you can clearly see how much a successful studio like Playground means to the current state of the Xbox ecosystem.
Recently, the studio has been working on more accessibility features like Blind Driving Assists, One Touch Driving, Screen Narrator, Dynamic Audio Description, Text-to-Speech, Speech-to-Text, UI Colorblindness Modes, and many others meant for players who are blind or suffer from low vision.
Forza Horizon 5 is currently on sale for $33 on Steam, but seeing that PC Game Pass recently launched in 40 more countries, you can easily subscribe to that service and play it along with more than 100 other games for half of that price, maybe even less if it's on offer.
(FYI) Forza Horizon 5 has hit over 30 million players, in just 18 months after release! ???? pic.twitter.com/tUIpx4eZ0I
— Idle Sloth???????? (@IdleSloth84_) May 13, 2023
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