Forza Motorsport Reportedly Sets New Franchise Record

Forza Motorsport had a rocky start with frustrating glitches plaguing the game at launch, but this seemingly hasn’t affected player numbers. Microsoft has yet to announce Forza Motorsport’s official player count, but achievement tracking data suggests the latest entry was the biggest launch in the series’ history with a record day-one player count.

Forza Motorsport’s day-one player count is reportedly up 300%

TrueAchievements reports that 83,364 of its players had unlocked an achievement by the end of 5 October, the official launch day after players who pre-ordered the Premium Edition had a five-day head start. That’s over three times higher than the number of day one players for Forza Motorsport 7, with 26,979 TA users unlocking an achievement on launch day.

Looking back at previous entries, TrueAchievements notes that Forza Motorsport had around four times as many launch day players as Forza Motorsport 5 (17,688) and Forza Motorsport 6 (17,119) and three times as many players than Forza Motorsport 3 (25,228).

We’ll have to wait for Microsoft to release official player numbers for a clearer picture. But early indications Forza Motorsport is off to a strong start in terms of player numbers, despite failing to reach the top 20 UK retail charts.

Steam player numbers remain relatively low, peaking at 4,703 on SteamDB. While Forza Motorsport’s sales seem to be floundering, Game Pass has lowered the barrier to entry. Forza Motorsport was a day-one Game Pass game, enticing millions of subscribers to take it for a spin without having to buy the standalone game. This likely explains the massive player spike on launch day when the early access period ended.

A bumpy road

Despite the high player count, Forza Motorsport’s launch has been far from smooth. Players have reported numerous bugs plaguing the game, from freezing load screens to losing career save progress.

Thankfully, the first major patch update and a hotfix this week have helped repair the damage and changed the car progression system, but an exhaustive list of known issues needs resolving.

Responding to the launch issues, Turn 10 says the team is “committed to ongoing improvements.” Monthly updates will also add new content including cars and tracks.

For more on Turn 10’s track racer, check out our Forza Motorsport review.

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