The best-selling PS5 game this year is by Xbox — it sold twice as many copies as PlayStation exclusive Death Stranding 2 in the same amount of time, and outsold 2024’s GOTY too

by

Among the primary reasons to choose Sony’s PlayStation 5 over Xbox Series X|S is its extensive library of highly-regarded AAA exclusive games such as God of War Ragnarök and The Last of Us.

Interestingly enough, it turns out that the most recent exclusive games for this platform have been outperformed in sales on PS5 by a title that initially debuted on and is owned by Xbox.

The game you’re referring to isn’t anything else but Forza Horizon 5, a widely acclaimed 2021 open-world multiplayer racer developed by Playground Games and Xbox Game Studios.

Based on data from trusted game sales tracker Alinea Analytics, Forza Horizon 5 managed to sell approximately 2 million copies on PlayStation 5 within 25 days following its April 29 release, whereas Kojima Productions’ latest title has shifted around 1 million units during the same timeframe.

Despite receiving rave reviews from critics, the quirky nature of DS2 has resulted in lower sales figures compared to other PlayStation Studios games such as Astro Bot, according to Rhys Elliott, the head of market analysis at Alinea Analytics.

Nonetheless, this franchise is known for its lasting popularity. It’s expected to maintain strong sales, thanks in part to the planned PC release (estimated Q3 2026). This version is anticipated to draw a significant number of gamers from China.

Certainly, the unique and unconventional nature of Death Stranding may limit its initial popularity and complicate mass marketing efforts. As Elliott suggests, a significant portion of its sales is predicted to come gradually over an extended timeframe.

Contrarily, Forza Horizon 5 stands out as an entertaining and user-friendly arcade racer, overflowing with content. There aren’t many games on the PlayStation Store that can match its high-quality standard; Grand Turismo 7 leans more towards a realistic simulation title.

Nevertheless, it’s quite astonishing to observe that a four-year-old Xbox game manages to sell twice as many units on PS5 as a newly released PlayStation exclusive does within the same timeframe.

In the past week, the console has officially surpassed the 3 million sales mark, making it more successful than the award-winning game Astro Bot for the year 2024. According to Alinea Analytics, Team Asobi’s platformer is expected to reach this milestone by the end of this summer season.

It’s interesting to point out that a significant part of Forza Horizon 5’s recent sales success has been linked to a recent discount, reducing its original price of $59.99 by 25% to $45. However, it’s also worth mentioning that you can acquire the Deluxe Edition, which comes with the Car Pass, at an even lower cost on Xbox and Xbox PC – specifically, $42.19 from CDKeys.

Additional captivating findings from the report reveal that Monster Hunter Rise is the second most popular PlayStation 5 game of the year, having sold approximately 2.9 million copies. This is closely followed by Assassin’s Creed Valhalla at 2 million units, Elden Ring at 1.4 million, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 with a similar sales figure of 1.4 million.

The PC version of Monster Hunter Wilds has experienced remarkable success with sales reaching 6.2 million units on Steam, proving to be a significant triumph for Capcom, despite the fact that some fans have voiced harsh criticisms regarding its gameplay and performance.

In addition to its impressive sales of 2.7 million units on the Valve platform, Elden Ring Nightreign (or simply Elden Ring) demonstrates that FromSoftware’s flagship intellectual property is flourishing. Meanwhile, Expedition 33 has shown exceptional performance across all available platforms as well.

The success of Xbox games on PlayStation continues

Microsoft’s approach to Xbox has been progressively leaning towards cross-platform offerings and features, as illustrated by the “This is an Xbox” ad campaign, the planned Xbox Ally handheld devices, the revitalization of Xbox Play Anywhere, the expansion of Xbox Cloud Gaming, and not forgetting the subscription service, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Initially focusing on that particular path, they have started to make certain Xbox games accessible on PlayStation. The journey commenced with the addition of Sea of Thieves, Grounded, Hi-Fi Rush, and Pentiment to the PS5 library last year. This was followed by Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and more recently Forza Horizon 5 this spring. Gears of War: Reloaded will also be available on PS5 once it launches on Xbox and PC in late August.

Despite varying results across all games on PS5, Sea of Thieves and Grounded have proven to be particularly triumphant. In fact, Sea of Thieves has sold approximately 2 million copies on the platform by late March, while Grounded managed a significant 432,200 sales figures, temporarily placing Microsoft atop the PlayStation Store rankings.

The ascent of Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 indicates that Microsoft’s triumph in porting multiplayer Xbox games to PlayStation is thriving – a fact that Sony likely can’t ignore, considering their recent surprise revelation of an Xbox version for Helldivers 2 earlier this month.

Consequently, it seems highly probable that we’ll carry on witnessing community-based multiplayer games from Xbox being ported to PlayStation, either at launch or later on. Now, I don’t foresee PS5 games appearing on Xbox the same day they release, but I do anticipate seeing more instances similar to Helldivers 2. Even Sony is showing interest in a share of the multiplatform market, as demonstrated by PlayStation Studios titles consistently being made available on PC.

Read More

2025-07-24 02:13