Playground Games’ Forza Horizon 5 is out next month for PS5, bringing the acclaimed open-world racing franchise to Sony consoles at last. However, according to the official FAQ, you’ll need a Microsoft account.
When booting it up for the first time on PS5, you must link it to your PlayStation Network account. The process is permanent, and while you can unlink later, it will remain tied to that specific Microsoft account. It isn’t necessarily a new process, as denoted by the “title-by-title basis” part.
Rare’s Sea of Thieves also required linking to a Microsoft account and accessing Xbox Live services. Obsidian’s Grounded launched on PS4 and PS5 with this requirement for multiplayer, but a subsequent patch removed it.
Forza Horizon 5 launches on April 29th for PS5, with Premium Edition owners receiving early access on April 25th. This coincides with a new update, Horizon Realms, which allows players on all platforms to venture into a “curated collection” of previous Evolving Worlds. Head here for more details.