![\"Forza](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_297112156-041a.jpg\")
\n\t\tForza Horizon 6 \u2013 it could\u2019ve been a killer app (Xbox Game Studios)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tForza Horizon 6 \u2013 it could\u2019ve been a killer app (Xbox Game Studios)<\/p>\n
A reader is impressed with new Xbox<\/a> game Forza Horizon 6<\/a> and tries to imagine an alternative future where it became one of the format\u2019s biggest exclusives.<\/p>\n Like many people, I\u2019ve been massively enjoying Forza Horizon 6 over the last week and I would say it is easily my favourite game of the year, which also seems to be what Metacritic thinks. I played it on PC and I cannot think of any other Xbox game, that isn\u2019t Forza Horizon, that has come anywhere close to that level of quality since the Xbox 360<\/a> era. And that, unfortunately, is a long time ago now.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just quality though. There\u2019s something about Forza Horizon 6 that feels exciting and of the moment. In the zeitgeist I think would be the word. Not only is everyone talking about it, but nobody seems to have a bad word to say about it, whether they particularly like the genre or not.<\/p>\n And then I see today that sales of the games \u2013 not just how many people have played it for free on Game Pass<\/a> but actual sales \u2013 are 5 million, which is apparently well above anything you\u2019d ever expect of Xbox recently. Which only hammers home the idea that Forza Horizon 6 is something special.<\/p>\n As many people have said over the years, the problem with Xbox is they always want to take a shortcut on everything. They\u2019re always looking for a secret move that will leap them ahead of Sony<\/a> and, of course, it doesn\u2019t exist. But while there\u2019s always been a lot of talk about losing the Xbox One generation, when everyone got settled into the ecosystem of the Xbox or PlayStation, I think the problem was earlier, with Kinect.<\/p>\n It cut the legs off the Xbox 360 and allowed the PlayStation 3 to overtake it in the end. Absolutely nothing good came of Kinect and at the same time Microsoft<\/a> stopped tending to its first party developers properly, shutting them down or letting them run off \u2013 like Bungie did.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tExpert, exclusive gaming analysis\t\t\t<\/p>\n Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter<\/a> for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.<\/p>\n The impression I get is that Microsoft though they had it in the bag with Xbox 360 and immediately got over confident and, well\u2026 you see the situation they\u2019re in today. But the bigger problem is I don\u2019t see any way back now. Xbox has been a punching bag for far too long now and nobody trusts them with hardware anymore.<\/p>\n So while something of the quality of Forza Horizon 6 would\u2019ve been a definite system seller 10 years ago, it\u2019s not now. It\u2019s just something to make a note of, so you remember to buy it on PC on PlayStation 5<\/a>.<\/p>\n Forza Horizon is by far the best thing Xbox has at the moment, but it doesn\u2019t help their console business because no-one\u2019s going to buy a console for that. They don\u2019t need to because it\u2019s multiformat (or will be) but I don\u2019t believe they\u2019d do it anyway.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n But the thing with Forza Horizon 6 is that it\u2019s very mainstream friendly, in a way things like The Outer Worlds definitely isn\u2019t. Halo<\/a> and Gears Of War<\/a> used to be, but they seem very old fashioned to me now and that\u2019s even if they\u2019re good games, which I doubt the they well be (the Halo one isn\u2019t even technically new!).<\/p>\n The only thing that might have some reach is the new Fable<\/a> but although it\u2019s by the same people as Forza I don\u2019t think it has much of a chance. The original games were never that good and there\u2019s nothing from the new trailers that makes me very confident.<\/p>\n Who knows, maybe it will be another blockbuster but it\u2019s still a drop in the ocean and will do nothing to change the fact that Xbox is now just a third party publisher and nothing more. The sooner they accept that and stop pretending they\u2019re going to go back to making exclusives the better.<\/p>\n The chance for Xbox to rival PlayStation was decades ago and while I wish it had, because I don\u2019t like the free reign Sony currently has, that chance is never going to come around again. Which makes the glimpse Forza Horizon 6 has given of what could\u2019ve been kind of cruel.<\/p>\n By reader Jason<\/p>\n \t\t The reader\u2019s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.<\/p>\n You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot.<\/p>\n Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a> or use our Submit Stuff page<\/a> and you won\u2019t need to send an email.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"Cars](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_296664468-8655.jpg\")
\n\t\tOne of the best games of the year (Microsoft)<\/p>\n
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