Long-awaited by PS5 racing fans, Forza Horizon 5 will make its debut on Sony’s console this spring. Open-world titles like Forza Horizon are a rarity on Playstation, apart from the Need For Speed series, which lost its flame years ago due to EA’s pursuit of microtransactions and its desire to release a new title every year. As a result, the latest NFS releases have been poorly received by the gamer community, especially those nostalgic for Hot Pursuit, Underground and the original Most Wanted, even though the remake was pretty good, I must say.

Microsoft’s journey to new horizons

Given that Microsoft, with its Xbox games console, has realized that trying to compete with Sony and its Playstation on the sales front is futile, the American firm has changed its tune, opting for a business plan based around the Game Pass service. In return for a subscription, you’ll have access to hundreds of games, including Microsoft/Xbox first-party titles such as Forza Horizon and Motorsport saga, Halo, Gears of War and more.

In 2024, Microsoft released Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves on PS5, and these were very well received by the gaming community. As a result, rumors began to circulate that Xbox was planning to release its first-party titles on its competitor, something that is quite rare in the gaming industry. Admittedly, Sony launched this trend several years ago with its blockbusters Spiderman, God of War, Uncharted and The Last of Us, but the Japanese firm is targeting the PC platform, not Xbox.

Microsoft wants to take a completely different approach. For several years now, all games published and/or developed by Microsoft studios have been available on both Xbox and PC on day one, i.e. the day the title is released. And now, Microsoft is tackling its rival platform: Playstation.

We now know that Forza Horizon 5 is confirmed for the PS5, with a release date of Spring 2025. The studio behind this port is Playground Games, which is developing the Forza Horizon saga on Xbox/PC, with help from Turn 10 Studios and Panic Button, who are notably responsible for the availability of Rocket League on Xbox One and the Switch, in addition to FH4 on Xbox Series X/S.

Forza Horizon 5 will be released on Playstation in the spring, with a cross-platform version between PS5, PC and Xbox. No exact release date has been given, nor even the price of the game, or whether it will be available in a specific version containing car packs. But that doesn’t really matter, because PS5 players will finally be able to enjoy this magnificent open-world racing game.