Forza Horizon 6 has been one of the top sellers on Steam since early April and it’s not even out yet. As of April 15 it had reportedly been pre-purchased more than 500,000 times, and that’s likely to have nearly doubled since, considering how steadfastly it has hovered around the top of Steam’s weekly revenue charts.
It’s a pretty astonishing figure but, for some context, Battlefield 6 was reportedly sitting on around 1.7 million pre-orders in the week before its October 10 launch.
I would never pre-order a digital game, but it’s interesting to consider the reasons one would. All Forza Horizon 6 pre-orders get a bonus “Pre-Tuned Ferrari J50” which is hard for me to get excited about since the full game has over 500 cars. Pre-orders likely have much more to do with the $120 Premium version, which grants four days early access to the game and all future DLC.
The success of Horizon 6 did send me looking back through earlier Steam revenue charts to see if any other recent racing game has blown up to a similar extent, pre-orders or not. When was the last time a racing game managed to breach the top ten?
(I’m not going to include RV There Yet? or GTA 5, or RoadCraft, because while all have driving they’re not strictly racing games).
- Sonic Crossworlds almost breached the top ten during its launch week (it released September 25, 2025), coming in at 11 behind the likes of Megabonk, Dying Light: The Beast and Silent Hill f.
- F1 25 hit number 5 during its launch week—it launched on May 31, 2025.
- Tokyo Xtreme Racer hit number 11 during its launch into early access on January 23, 2025, but failed to breach the top 20 when it launched out of early access on September 25, 2025.
- Assetto Corsa Evo hit number 6 during its launch week—it launch on January 7, 2025.
I’m most surprised that Tokyo Xtreme Racer never managed to breach the top ten: it was definitely the most talked about racer of 2025. Still, it hardly has the brand power of Sonic or F1.
What I’m not generally surprised about is that few new racing games do penetrate the top ten. Screamer has had great reviews and looks fun, but didn’t manage. The same is true for stuff like Carmageddon: Rogue Shift, Ride 6 and MotoGP 26. If you lived through the ’90s and early ’00s you probably still see racing games as being one of the medium’s key genres but they really just aren’t anymore, save obvious exceptions like Mario Kart and, well, Forza Horizon.
And even when they sell remarkably well, racing games tend not to dominate the discussion for long, if at all. We’ll probably see a bunch of vertical video showing off Horizon 6’s truncated take on Japan next week, but no one’s going to be arguing about it (like they presently are Mixtape). Also, considering how very similar Forza Horizon 6 is to previous Forza Horizon games, there’s probably not a great deal to talk about anyway (but maybe I’m wrong!).
With big names like Need for Speed, Ridge Racer, Driver, and GRID feeling more and more like ancient curios, Forza Horizon is probably the only multi-platform racer that everyone will buy. But even if it released into a busier month—and there’s basically no other blockbuster games releasing for the rest of May—I don’t think Forza Horizon 6 will take up much mindshare.
Will I be playing it? You bet, but while listening to a podcast.
Top Steam games by revenue (April 28 – May 5)
Steam releases its top sellers charts on Wednesdays, so the below chart doesn’t factor in some late week releases that might have been big, including Mixtape.
|
Rank |
Game |
|---|---|
|
1 |
Counter-Strike 2 |
|
2 |
Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era |
|
3 |
Far Far West |
|
4 |
PUBG: Battlegrounds |
|
5 |
Forza Horizon 6 |
|
6 |
Diablo IV |
|
7 |
Windrose |
|
8 |
Where Winds Meet |
|
9 |
Apex Legends |
|
10 |
Pragmata |
It’s interesting that the Steam Controller doesn’t factor into the top 100. It released on May 4, a day before the cut off for last week’s revenue chart. Considering how quickly it sold out, I’m surprised that it doesn’t appear at all whereas the Steam Deck does (at number 86). Is it possibly a hint regarding how few Steam Controllers Valve actually had to hand? Whatever the case, if you want one now you have to join a queue.
Last week’s Steam deep cuts
Alabaster Dawn | May 7
From the creators of the widely adored CrossCode comes a new top down action RPG with strong pre-3D Zelda elements. It looks a lot like its predecessor, though the art style has shifted into a 2.5D perspective that gives the fast-paced combat an added fluency. It’s in early access, and you can currently play up to the end of chapter two.
Hypnos | May 7
Hypnos is a first-person exploration game with a stunningly weird art style, somehow combining dark fantasy with an approach to architecture that wends brutalist. It also has shades of Control, and the painterly textural approach of the Dishonored series. It’s by the creators of Blackshard.
Dead as Disco | May 6
It’s a beat ’em up with rhythm elements wherein you play as Charlie Disco, on a mission to rescue his legacy in the best way he knows how: rhythmic wanton violence. It’s a stylish and fluid affair, and despite only being in early access—where it’s expected to stay for around a year—it already has over 2,000 “overwhelmingly positive” reviews.
CD-ROM | May 10
Here’s one of those fake OS sims with a focus on unlocking various CDs. It’s all about “deciphering coded texts, analyzing images” and “finding hints from mini-games” in order to access the content on these mysterious themed artefacts.
Best Steam user review of the week
Here I will leave the cat, friends who pass by can pet it and give it a thumbs up
／＞ フ
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／` ミ＿xノ
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/ ヽ ﾉ
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／￣| | | |
| (￣ヽ＿ヽ)__)
– Zhain on Holy Grail for Dummies