Forza Horizon 5 already has over 4.5 million players

If you thought Forza Horizon 5's version of Mexico attracting 1 million players ahead of launch was impressive, you're going to be floored by the player count the game got on its actual release date.

As per a tweet from Xbox boss Phil Spencer, the game has seen a player count of over 4.5 million on November 9 – the official, actual release day for the title. A lot of those players were already in-game ahead of launch, thanks to purchases of the Premium Edition of the game (which sets you back some $99 / £85).

"We've invested for years in Xbox so more people can play," Spencer said in the tweet. "With 4.5+ million players so far across PC, cloud & console, Forza Horizon 5 shows that promise coming to life." He went on to note that it's the largest launch day for an Xbox Game Studios game to date, and the concurrent peak player count is three times higher than that of Forza Horizon 4. We've likley got Xbox Game Pass and stellar reviews to thank for that.

Our very own Tom Orry has been soaking in the ambiance of Mexico and deeply enjoying himself in the process – so much so that he didn't want to ruin the experience by rushing through the game for the sake of slapping a score on his thoughts.

On top of incredible graphics, a killer soundtrack and more besides, the game is being lauded for having some wonderful accesibility options – including sign language interpreters – that has seen the game praised widely on social media.

Forza Horizon 5 is out now and available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.