Forza Horizon 5 Deserves to Be on PlayStation

There's nothing quite like Forza Horizon 5 on the PlayStation 5. While other titles come close, none match the unique experience offered by Forza Horizon 5, now available for the first time on PS5.

The Crew Motorfest? It's close. Embracing a festival vibe, it mirrors Forza Horizon more than its predecessors, leaning into the philosophy of 'if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em'.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown? Unfortunately, it misses the mark. While the Forza Horizon series owes much to the pioneering MMO racing of the original Test Drive Unlimited, Solar Crown's always-online model with no dedicated solo play falls short. Forza Horizon has seamlessly integrated both offline and online modes since Forza Horizon 2 in 2014.

Need for Speed Unbound? It excels in customization, outshining Forza in certain areas. However, its focus on high-speed pursuits and arcade-style racing doesn't quite align with the open-world experience of Forza Horizon.

Forza Horizon 5 stands unrivaled in the realm of modern open-world racing games. Its expansive and stunning Mexico map, drift-friendly vehicle dynamics, and an extensive garage boasting over 900 cars, including many cult favorites, set it apart. PlayStation users are now diving into this rich experience for the first time, and the reaction has been thrilling to observe.

The influx of new players on PS5 is something the team at Playground Games has eagerly anticipated. "Yeah, I’m super excited," says art director Don Arceta. "Like, brand new people; for many, this will probably be the first Forza Horizon game they’ve ever played. It’s super exciting to think about that and reflect on our own first experiences with Horizon."

Arceta is particularly enthusiastic about 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 has done with that feature and mode – and the creativity of the community – it’s just mind-blowing," he continues. "I’m super excited to see what PlayStation 5 users will 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 is technically as impressive as its Xbox and PC counterparts, a notable achievement given the game's size and the fact that its engine was never 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, the Forza series is a treasure trove of unique and desirable vehicles. "Personally, I’ve never been able to look past the Forza series as a whole as home to the biggest and best bag of Hot Wheels on the block," says one fan. "No other racing series contains more weird and wonderful cars that I want, piled on top of a cavalcade of cars I didn’t even know I wanted. As a car fan, I love the idea of a whole new cohort of players potentially discovering their favorite cars in Forza Horizon 5 – cars their other racing games just haven’t been serving them."

Lead game designer David Orton emphasizes the breadth of Forza Horizon 5 as a key attraction for new players. "The breadth of Horizon is quite staggering," says Orton. "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."

"For me, a victory would be, like, ‘I can’t believe I’ve never played this game before,’" says Arceta. "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, saying, "Yeah, I think it’s that. 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."

For racing game fans, the barrier between platforms has come down with Forza Horizon 5's arrival on PS5. Let's hope this is just the beginning.