FH5 is probably played mostly via MS Store/Game Pass so I guess the absolute player numbers on Steam are not really relevant. What’s more meaningful is the general trend line. If the number of average players on Steam is dropping or raising, it’s highly probable that this is also happening on other platforms.
I also think with marketing models like Game Pass or F2P it’s generally difficult to measure the quality of a game by player numbers because what you will play is also a question of what you will have to pay for it. I’m playing FH5 because it’s on Game Pass and because I think it’s a decent game overall, not as good as the older FH games but it still has enough parts I can enjoy to make it worthwhile playing it. So whenever I have an acticve subscription I play it but if it wasn’t on Game Pass, I wouldn’t buy it until it’s on sale in the region of 10-20 €.
My issue with Playground goes far beyond what the game is.
IMO, the Forza Horizon franchise has redefined arcade racing in a way that the competition needs to catch up badly if they want to exist in the future. The use of a sim engine in an arcade game was one of the rare good ideas from Microsoft when it comes to gaming and it has completely obliterated NFS popularity as well as eating into Forza Motorsport and even Gran Turismo fanbase.
Why don’t I like the studio? Five things: complacence with its own success, submission to Microsoft’s GaaS model, the tone of the game being extremely childish and immature, lack of knowledge when it comes to the their own game’s mechanics, and the refusal to connect with its dedicated fanbase.
Forza Horizon’s core is still very good, but everything around it screams low effort, repetition, zone of comfort. So I don’t feel like playing.
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