With the success of Xbox’s initiative to bring its first-party exclusives to other platforms, PS5 players get even more big-name titles to enjoy (and help the wait for its own exclusives). Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is on the way, launching on April 17th, but for racing fans, there’s Forza Horizon 5 to look forward to on April 29th.
Whether it’s the racing genre or open-world games as a whole, it’s widely considered one of the very best, reaching more than 10 million players in its first week of release. PS5 players can finally see what all the fuss is about but more importantly, they can benefit from many of the same features, tons of post-launch updates, and much more. Here are 15 things you should know about Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 before picking it up.
Developed by Panic Button
Panic Button is responsible for the PS5 port and though the name might not be immediately familiar, it’s worked on some pretty impressive ports through the years. These include DOOM Eternal on the Nintendo Switch, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for Xbox Series X/S and PS5, and even Forza Horizon 4 for the Xbox Series X/S. It’s still partnering with Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios for the PS5 release, so a top-notch port should be expected.
Open World Setting and Size
Unlike Forza Motorsport, the Forza Horizon series is open-world, which means going wherever you want and discovering content in the wild (like Speed Traps, Barn Finds, etc). With that in mind, Forza Horizon 5 offers the series’ biggest map to date and since it’s based on Mexico, there’s an extensive array of biomes and weather conditions to experience. Some of the latter are also new to the series, like massive dust storms that you can drive into.
New Horizon Adventure
While previous Forza Horizon titles started with a single Festival Site and saw you establishing others, Forza Horizon 5 takes a different approach. The big Horizon Adventure begins at the Main Stage but each Festival Site now focuses on a different activity like street racing, cross-country racing, and more. They each offer separate Chapters with unique characters, quests and rewards, so you can focus on a single activity for hours if you so desire.
Accolades
However, progressing through and unlocking subsequent Chapters requires completing Accolades. These are objectives which encompass pretty much everything in the game. Completing specific Accolades unlocks numerous additional cars while contributing to your ultimate goal – reaching the Hall of Fame. It’s a flexible path and feeds into the option to focus on specific activities, though if you’re a completionist, some will put you to the test.
Expansions
Whether you’re finished with the base game or need a break from its 130 hours of content (for completionists, of course), you can engage in two expansions. Rally Adventure and Hot Wheels. The former adds new cars and rally events while the latter offers the Horizon Hot Wheels Park with fantastical tracks (complete with loop-de-loops), the ability to design your own Hot Wheels tracks, and even more new cars.
Post-Launch Updates and Changes
Starting from November 2021, there are years of updates, hotfixes and free content additions for Forza Horizon 5. These include new Horizon Tour events, Horizon Stories (and co-op support), Accolades, Speed Zones, cars, body kit presets, Midnight Battle, the Horizon Mixtape Station, and tracks – it’s…a lot, and that doesn’t even cover all the changes and improvements made to existing systems like EventLab.
Cross-Play (But No Cross-Save)
Cross-play will be available at launch, allowing Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC (both the Microsoft Store and Steam), and Xbox One players to play together. Unfortunately, cross-save will not be available, though leaderboard scores are synchronized to the same Microsoft account.
Horizon Realms Update
Coinciding with the PS5 version is the release of Horizon Realms, an update which sees the return of 11 limited-time tracks. Players can dive into each through Skill Mode, where you’ll compete to earn the highest Skill Score and unlock new Badges, and Free Mode, which allows for casually unlocking new Accolades and playing with friends. There’s also the brand new Stadium Track and the Horizon Stadium Circuit, which acts as a permanent race route.
New Accolades and Car Rewards with the new update
With the hundreds of cars and Accolades available, what are a few more for free? Horizon Realms will now have its own Accolades tab with 60+ Accolades to earn, many of which are new. As you complete them, you can earn four new cars – the 2024 Lamborghini Revuelto, the 2023 Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato, the 2018 Lotus Exige Cup 430 and the 2022 Hennessey Mammoth 6×6.
DualSense Support
What would Forza Horizon 5 on the PS5 feel like without DualSense support? Thankfully, players can look forward to Adaptive Trigger support. This offers a “higher fidelity feel of wheel slip, threshold braking, and surface changes,” according to the port’s official FAQ.
Leaderboards and Synchronized Festival Playlist
Horizon Realms launching for PS5 on the same date as other versions isn’t the only example of content parity. The Forza Support Team also confirmed that the Festival Playlist is synchronized across all platforms. You can thus access the latest series at the same time as other platforms and, as seen with Horizon Realms, also play all the past content. And yes, leaderboards are also the same across all platforms.
Access to All User-Generated Content
It’s also worth noting that any user-generated content, regardless of platform, is universally accessible. Those on PS5 can access all content created and shared from EventLab 2.0 but anything they create is also playable by Xbox and PC players. So on top of all the past updates and expansions and the latest Horizon Realms update, PS5 players have a glut of player-created content to sort through.
Performance and Quality Modes
As with the Xbox Series X version, the PS5 will feature two graphics modes – Performance and Quality. Officially, the former runs in 60 frames per second while the latter is 30 FPS, but we know that the Series X version runs at dynamic 4K and 60 FPS on Performance and native 4K/30 FPS on Quality.
PS5 Pro Support
The same two graphics modes exist on PS5 Pro and here’s where things get interesting. Quality Mode includes ray-traced reflections during Free Roam and races while Performance offers “increased visual fidelity” at 60 frames per second. Finer details like the resolutions, improved graphics, use of PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, and more have yet to be confirmed.
Mandatory Microsoft Account
As good as this all sounds, there is a slight caveat to playing Forza Horizon 5 on the PS5 – you need a Microsoft Account. Similar to Sea of Thieves, you must link your PlayStation Network account to the same. While you can always unlink it later, the game will remain tied to the same Microsoft account.
