The racing genre is one of the oldest in gaming, with its origins dating all the way back to the early 1970s with games like Atari's Gran Trak 10 and Night Driver. The racing genre has also often been at the forefront of technological advancements in the gaming world, being some of the first mainstream titles to experiment with features like 3D modeling and ray-tracing. Of course, many of these groundbreaking racing games have ended up on PlayStation.
There have been countless third and first-party racing games on PlayStation over the years, ranging from hardcore simulators to arcade combat racers to everything in between. PlayStation has always had a strong share of the racing market, but thanks to a recent Xbox announcement, PlayStation is about to become the definitive console for the racing genre.
Forza Horizon 5 Coming to PS5 Should Signal the Opening of the Floodgates
Forza Horizon 5 is officially coming to PlayStation, and this should be the game that flings open the floodgates for Xbox first-party franchises.
PlayStation Will Soon Be Home to Both Major Racing Franchises
PlayStation Is About to Get One of The Best Racing Games of All Time
It's just been officially confirmed that Forza Horizon 5 is coming to PlayStation 5 in Spring of this year, marking the latest entry in Xbox's recent multi-platform strategy. For fans of the racing genre, this is absolutely huge news.
For decades there have been two racing franchises that have persisted through practically every console generation, those being PlayStation's Gran Turismo and Xbox's Forza Motorsport/Forza Horizon. With the announcement that Forza Horizon 5 is coming to PlayStation, the PS5 is about to make history as the first console to be home to both major racing franchises.
Forza Horizon 5 received universal acclaim upon its initial 2021 release, and it currently sits at a 92 Top Critic Average on OpenCritic.
PlayStation Already Has a Strong Library of Racing Games
PlayStation's most enduring racing series is undoubtedly Gran Turismo. Debuting in 1997, Gran Turismo has been around for the best part of three decades now, and it's arguably gotten better with each entry. Racing game enthusiasts will likely have already put plenty of hours into Gran Turismo 7 since its 2022 release, but anyone who hasn't checked out the latest mainline entry in the long-running racing sim franchise definitely should.
Those new to the racing sim genre, however, might want to check out Gran Turismo's latest release, My First Gran Turismo. Released last December, My First Gran Turismo is essentially a small free-to-play slice of Gran Turismo 7, offering the same mechanics but featuring 18 new cars and three tracks.
PlayStation owners also have a wealth of classic racing games available via backwards-compatibility, such as the Wipeout Omega Collection, Twisted Metal, and Motorstorm. Though, it should be noted that the only way to play some of these games on PS5 is via PlayStation Plus' Premium tier. With Forza Horizon 5, Gran Turismo, and all of these classic racing games under its belt, PlayStation could become the definitive platform for racing fans.
It's possible that PlayStation returns the favor and puts Gran Turismo on Xbox to make things equal, but that doesn't seem likely, with PlayStation expressing no clear interest in wanting to reciprocate or copy Xbox's new multi-platform approach.
Forza Horizon 5
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 92 /100 Critics Rec: 100%
- Released
- November 9, 2021
- ESRB
- E for Everyone // In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Playground Games
- Publisher(s)
- Xbox Game Studios
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Racing, Open-World
