Playground Games on the secret to Forza Horizon’s enduring success

To say that Forza Horizon 6 has been a smash hit is an understatement. When it launched on Steam last month, it doubled its predecessor’s peak player count in one day. What made this feat even more impressive was that this was the pricey Premium Edition, allowing players to access the game a few days early before the main launch.

Staggeringly, the open-world racer went on to surpass six million players in its first week. Even for a franchise as popular as Forza Horizon, these numbers are unprecedented. It’s a rare example of a modern racing game achieving mainstream success, which should give the genre a much-needed boost.  

This even took its developer, Playground Games, by surprise.

“It’s an incredible number,” Production Director Mike Bennett told Traxion. “We’re really pleased with how things are going so far.

“We’re building upon an incredible legacy with the previous five games. Everyone felt they had built something special with this game.

“We were confident in that, but you don’t believe it until it’s out there and you see the true reaction from people. To have it out there now and have that validation is amazing. We’re riding on a wave of good feeling right now.”

Playground Games is no stranger to success. Every Forza Horizon game is critically acclaimed and impeccably polished. Compared to the rocky launches of titles like Project Motor Racing, Rennsport and Forza Motorsport, its consistent quality is commendable. 

“We’ve managed to appeal to a much bigger audience than we ever have”

Its success was never guaranteed, however. When the first game launched in 2012, releasing a casual spin-off of the established Forza Motorsport franchise was risky.  

“Open-world racing and driving wasn’t a big thing at that point,” Bennett recalls. “Most were track-based: you were locked into this ribbon of tarmac or dirt from point A to point B.

“The genius of the first game was taking the great handling model and vehicle library from Forza Motorsport and opening that up on open roads.”

While the first game was “semi-open world,” the developer’s vision of unrestricted open-world driving was fully realised in the sequel.

“When we moved to Horizon 2, we tore down the walls and barriers between the roads and made that world even more open and free,” said Bennett. “When you do that, it gives people much more freedom. They play the game and experience it the way they want. It’s more on their terms.”

Playground attributes this sense of freedom to bolstering the franchise’s universal appeal.   

“Forza Horizon can be the game that you want for whatever mood you’re in. Sometimes I want to focus on something competitive and structured,” continued Bennett. “Other times, I want to jump into my favourite car and just cruise around. I think that’s part of the appeal.

“Racing is a key part of what we offer, but we more often talk about it as a driving game. That permeates how we think about our title.

“It’s a big part of what’s given us a broader appeal. You don’t have to just be into super competitive, structured racing.

“There’s so much more to the game, whether you want to just acquire cars or drive around and take in the sights and vistas or build your dream car and customise it. We have people who play the game, and all they do is spend time in our livery editor, making amazing designs and sharing them.

“The breadth of experiences you can have is a core part of why we’ve been so successful. We’ve managed to appeal to a much bigger audience than we ever have.”

British Motor Museum celebrates Forza Horizon 6 in sold-out launch event

To celebrate both the launch and the series’ legacy, Forza Horizon 6 is at the centre of a new exhibition at the British Motor Museum in Warwickshire. Notable cars featured in the game are on display, from Japanese staples such as the Honda NSX, Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 and Subaru Impreza 22B STI, to the Peel P50 microcar.

Fans can also go hands-on with the game, setting lap times on a dedicated racing rig.

“We chose it [the location] partly because of its proximity to our studio,” Playground Games’ Chief of Staff Rebekah Simpson explained. “Being so local to us, it’s less than 10 miles from Playground.

“We were already working with them [the British Motor Museum] on some outreach workshops, and it escalated from that. We thought this would be a cool space to do something for the fans and our staff, and something different for the museum.”

With Forza Horizon 6 focusing on Japanese car culture, the game’s connection with the UK-based museum seems tenuous, but the studio felt it was the perfect venue to celebrate its British heritage. 

“We are a British games developer,” said Simpson. “We thought it would be a cool opportunity to bring vehicles they wouldn’t ordinarily have for a short time. It just ticked many boxes.”

Fans can also gain insights into Forza Horizon 6’s development through information boards scattered around the exhibition.  

“We wanted the exhibition to be about the game, but also about the people who make it,” explained Simpson. “We have a role model board, which around 50 or 60 of our developers contributed towards. They talk about their specific roles.

“It was important for us to have this so we can celebrate how diverse our employees are. People can come here and see people who look like them and feel inspired when they think about what their careers might be in the future.

“We’ve also got an outreach area in the exhibit so that young people can learn about game development. Hopefully, we can inspire the next generation of game developers.”

To mark the launch, the museum hosted a special sold-out event on the opening day, attracting 5,000 visitors. In a testament to Forza Horizon’s unrelenting popularity, the queue for the exhibition stretched to over an hour soon after it opened to the public, with mass crowds of fans flooding the museum floors throughout the day.  

With a live DJ, a dazzling drifting display and an eclectic collection of Japanese cars filling the grounds, the bustling event was themed around a Forza Horizon festival. The atmosphere was electric and celebratory.  

“One of the best game studios in the world is Playground Games,” said Head of Xbox Game Studios Craig Duncan while opening the event.

“What they’ve done with Forza Horizon 6 has been an incredible achievement and will not only be one of the biggest and best games of this year, but also this generation.  

“I think many people and families will enjoy it [the exhibition]. If it brings people together and [helps them] appreciate car culture and British history, then I think everyone’s made the world a brighter place through entertainment.”

Forza Horizon 6: The Experience is open at the British Motor Museum until November, with admission included in a standard entry ticket.