To say that Forza Horizon 6 has been a success for Microsoft and Xbox thus far would honestly be an understatement; it enjoyed a massive Early Access launch ahead of its full release, and once the game did come out for all across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and Xbox Game Pass, it blew up on Steam within minutes and quickly accrued over 6 million players across all platforms.

A week later, it's lost a touch of its launch momentum on Steam, where its concurrent player count has dropped a bit (but only by a small amount, mind you). Across Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC, however, the open-world arcade racer has actually accelerated some, and has surpassed even Call of Duty in terms of current popularity.

This can be observed on the official Xbox most-played games list right now, where Forza Horizon 6 has pulled ahead of Activision's juggernaut FPS series. That makes it the fourth most-played Xbox game at the moment, only behind Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft. It's also the second most-played game on Xbox that costs money, as Fortnite and Roblox are free-to-play.

Some other titles Forza Horizon 6 is outperforming include the sports game NBA 2K26, the tactical shooter Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, and the newly released Subnautica 2 that's also doing incredibly well at launch. It's also ahead of prominent live-service free-to-play games such as Rocket League, Apex Legends, and Marvel Rivals.

While all of this is undeniably impressive, I still think the fact Forza has overtaken Call of Duty is the biggest feat of all. The shooter is one of the world's largest video game IPs, and routinely enjoys success that dwarfs most competition in the genre. Even when games like Battlefield 6 outsell it in the short term, Call of Duty almost always takes back the lead over time.

In terms of profit and long-term revenue, Call of Duty will stay ahead of Forza as well. But even so, Forza Horizon 6 surpassing the FPS' current player count on Xbox is a huge accomplishment, and one that I'm sure makes developer Playground Games very, very happy.

It's particularly notable because the Call of Duty HQ client on Xbox encompasses multiple recent entries in the franchise, including Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops 6, last year's Black Ops 7, and the live-service free-to-play battle royale Warzone. That's five combined Call of Duty player counts that Forza Horizon 6 is beating.

As for how long that lead will last, it's impossible to say — but I doubt Forza will fall out of popularity any time soon, especially since Playground Games has kicked off its first of many Festival Playlist updates that expands the game's car list with new and unique vehicles to take for a spin out in Japan. Indeed, if the stellar performance of Forza Horizon 5 is any indication, its sequel will remain a frequently played fan favorite for many months and years to come.

Are you enjoying Forza Horizon 6 now that it's out? Let me know what you think of the game below, and make sure you vote in our poll as well.

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Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he's been an avid fan since childhood. He's been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you'll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he's not writing or gaming, there's a good chance he's either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once. Follow him on X (Twitter).