Forza Horizon 5 and the Racing Game GOTY Conversation That Never Quite Ended

In late 2021, the idea that a racing game could be game of the year sounded like wishful thinking to many. Then Forza Horizon 5 arrived, and the conversation changed. Reviews poured in before launch, and nearly all of them were glowing. The game became the highest-rated title of the year on OpenCritic and the highest-rated new game of 2021 on MetaCritic. Its scores sat at 92 and 91, respectively. For a genre that rarely gets invited to the biggest award table, that was not just a win. It was a statement. By 2026, looking back, Forza Horizon 5's launch remains one of the clearest examples of a racing game forcing its way into the game-of-the-year debate.

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The Review Scores That Made Everyone Pay Attention

Forza Horizon 5 did not sneak into the 2021 conversation. It kicked the door open. At launch, its aggregate scores placed it above almost every other new release of the year. On OpenCritic, it held a 92. On MetaCritic, it sat at 91. Those numbers mattered because they were not just good for a racing game. They were good for any game, full stop.

The only titles with higher MetaCritic ratings at the time were re-releases rather than new 2021 games. That included the Series X and PS5 versions of Hades and Tetris Effect Connected. Among brand-new games, Forza Horizon 5 stood at the top. Its closest competitors were Psychonauts 2, Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Dusk, and It Takes Two. Each of those had passionate defenders, but none could match Forza's immediate critical consensus.

That table is a reminder of how crowded 2021 was. Yet Forza Horizon 5 still managed to feel like the outlier. It was a racing game in a year full of narrative adventures, platformers, and indies. It was also a first-party Xbox title arriving on Game Pass, which made its critical success even more visible. Players did not have to buy it separately to try it. They could simply download it and see what the fuss was about.

Mexico, EventLab, and the Festival That Awaited

The setting helped. Forza Horizon 5 took the festival to Mexico, and the map offered deserts, jungles, mountains, and city streets. It was colorful, varied, and full of reasons to keep driving. The game also introduced EventLab, a tool that let players build events wherever they wanted across the Mexico map. That feature turned the game into something closer to a platform for creativity than a simple racing title.

Critics praised the handling, the accessibility options, the visual polish, and the sheer amount of content. The racing itself was arcade-friendly without feeling weightless. The seasonal events gave the open world a reason to keep changing. For many players, it was the most generous racing game they had ever touched. For critics, it was a rare blockbuster that delivered on almost every promise.

The Game Awards Still Had Other Ideas

The biggest question in late 2021 was whether The Game Awards would finally crown a racing game as its game of the year. It had never done so before. Forza Horizon 5 was nominated, and its review scores made it a legitimate threat. In the end, It Takes Two took home the top prize. Forza Horizon 5 still won Best Sports/Racing and Best Audio Design, but the main award went elsewhere.

By 2026, that outcome still defines the conversation. The Game Awards has not yet given its game of the year award to a racing game. Forza Horizon 5 came closer than most, but it did not break the pattern. That does not diminish what the game achieved. It simply shows how award shows can be conservative when a genre does not fit the usual prestige mold.

Scores Can Change, but Forza's Legacy Held

There is always a chance that aggregate scores will shift over time. The reference point is often Citizen Kane, which lost its 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes after a review from the 1940s resurfaced. A single old review can change a perfect score years later. Forza Horizon 5 faced the same theoretical risk. More reviews could have arrived, and its average could have slipped.

That did not happen in any meaningful way. In 2026, Forza Horizon 5 is still remembered as one of the best-reviewed games of 2021. It is also still a benchmark for open-world racing. Its expansions, seasonal content, and community creations kept it alive long after launch. Even as newer racing games arrived, Forza Horizon 5 remained the title that proved a racing game could be a genuine game-of-the-year contender.

The lesson is simple. Game of the year does not have to be a cinematic narrative or a platforming mascot. It can be a festival in Mexico, a garage full of cars, and a map built for exploration. Forza Horizon 5 made that argument louder than any racing game before it. The Game Awards may not have listened in 2021, but the reviews did. And in 2026, that is still the most important part of the story.