Forza Horizon 5 Should Hit PlayStation: Fans Demand

There's nothing quite like Forza Horizon 5 on the PlayStation 5. While games like The Crew Motorfest have adopted a festival approach similar to Forza Horizon, they don't quite match up. The Crew Motorfest leans into the festival vibe, making it more akin to Forza Horizon than its predecessors, but it's still not the same. Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, on the other hand, fails to capture the magic. It tried to emulate the trendsetting MMO racing of the original Test Drive Unlimited but fell short with its always-online model, lacking the seamless offline and online play that Forza Horizon has offered since 2014. Need for Speed Unbound has an impressive customization suite that outshines Forza in some areas, but its focus on high-speed pursuits means it's not a direct competitor.

Forza Horizon 5 stands alone as the top modern open-world racing game, and it's now available on PlayStation 5 for the first time. Its expansive and stunning Mexico map, drift-friendly vehicle dynamics, and a garage boasting over 900 cars, including cult favorites not found in other racing games, make it a standout. PlayStation users are diving into this experience, many for the first time, and the reaction has been exhilarating to watch.

The influx of new players is something the team at Playground Games has eagerly anticipated. Art director Don Arceta expressed his excitement, saying, "Yeah, I'm super excited. Like, brand new people; for many, this will probably be the first Forza Horizon game that they've ever played. So it's super exciting just to think about that, and think about what *our* first Horizon experiences were."

Arceta is particularly interested in seeing the creations PlayStation 5 players will make using Forza Horizon 5's extensive Event Lab customization tools. "We have over 800 props now in the Event Lab, and just seeing what the community's done with that feature and mode – and the creativity of the community – it's just mind-blowing," he said. "I'm super excited, once we get into the PlayStation 5 users, about what they'll build, and the creativity that will come from that community."

"You'll actually get some pretty good Halo content too on the PlayStation, with the event lab props!"

The PlayStation 5 port of Forza Horizon 5 is technically flawless, matching the quality of its Xbox and PC counterparts. This is impressive given the game's size and the fact that the engine has never been used on PlayStation before. "As you can imagine, because the series has been based around the Xbox environment and architecture, there's a lot of code and engineering that's worked with that," says Arceta. "So when we brought it to the PS5, it was no small undertaking. It was quite a huge task."

"The PlayStation 5 version was developed by Panic Button, in collaboration with Turn 10 and ourselves, but Panic Button did an amazing job. So you get that amazing, quality experience that you get on Xbox and PC – now you get on the PlayStation, and it's just amazing work that Panic Button has done."

For car enthusiasts, Forza Horizon 5 offers an unparalleled collection of vehicles, including many unique and coveted cars. As a car fan, the idea of new players discovering their favorite cars in Forza Horizon 5 is thrilling.

Lead game designer David Orton highlights the game's breadth as a key attraction for new players. "The breadth of Horizon is quite staggering," he says. "I think what we find is players go in and find what they really enjoy but, because there's so much freedom, that can really be whatever you want it to be."

"We always pride ourselves on giving the player that kind of agency and freedom to do whatever they want, and the game will reward them and react in that way. I'm really looking forward to players just discovering the breadth of the content. If you just want to do road racing, or if you're really into Rivals and track racing, you can totally do that. But if you love taking incredible photos, you can totally do that. If you're into Event Lab, and you want to create content for other people, you can totally do that. Horizon is the space where really everyone is welcome, and there's something in it for everyone. I think the feeling of people going in and realizing this is more than just a racing game is what's really exciting for me."

Arceta hopes that new players will be pleasantly surprised by Forza Horizon 5. "For me, a victory would be, like, 'I can't believe I've never played this game before,'" he says. "I think the *surprise*."

"That, for me, is a victory, because once they're surprised, they're engaged – and they want to learn more. So I'm really looking for that. The delight from players; just hearing their surprise and hearing their stories."

Orton agrees, emphasizing the welcoming nature of Forza Horizon 5. "Yeah, I think it's that," he adds. "Players who've never tried Horizon before – whether that's because it's on a different platform, or they've just never had the time to do it – to actually jump into this world and realize that it's actually a really warm, welcoming place that's full of fun, and finding a home at Horizon."

"Players who've never played before realizing that, 'Oh my goodness, how have I never played this game before? This is incredible.' That, to me, is a win. We're about to target a cohort of players who may have never played a Forza title before. There's a bit of an unknown to how people react to that, but I think when you look at the history of our titles, we're continually perfecting our craft. We feel so excited to bring this to PlayStation. I think we're going to bring in a whole load of new players and that's really exciting."

The tribal nature of car culture and video game console loyalty has long divided fans, but Forza Horizon 5's arrival on PlayStation 5 has broken down one significant barrier. Let's hope it's not the last.