I’m just a regular player. I don’t own every console, I don’t write reviews, and I definitely don’t call myself a racing fan. So when Forza Horizon 5 launched for Premium Edition users back in November 2021, I mostly shrugged. Another car game, I thought. Then I remembered it was coming to Game Pass on November 9, and that changed everything for me.

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I downloaded it on day one through Game Pass. No extra charge. That still feels like a magic trick. I picked a car, drove into Mexico, and within an hour I understood why the Metacritic score was over 90. The game didn’t just appeal to racing fans. It appealed to people like me.

Here’s what pulled me in:

  • 🌵 The world felt alive, from sand dunes to jungle roads to little towns with festivals.

  • 🏁 The handling was forgiving enough for a beginner but deep enough to feel rewarding.

  • 🎮 Game Pass made it risk-free. I could try it, hate it, and move on. I didn’t hate it. I loved it.

  • 🔥 The cinematics even had sign language support, which I thought was a thoughtful touch that more games should copy.

At the same time, I was watching the online discourse. It was messy. PlayStation fans pointed at Xbox’s lack of exclusives. Xbox fans pointed at the reused rowing mechanic in God of War: Ragnarok. Matt Booty had admitted Xbox was behind PlayStation in tentpole games. He wasn’t wrong. In the first year of PS5, PlayStation had Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Returnal, and Deathloop. Xbox needed a win.

Game What it meant to me
Microsoft Flight Simulator It showed Xbox could deliver something technically ambitious and unique.
Forza Horizon 5 It proved Xbox could make a AAA exclusive that even non-racing players adored.
Halo Infinite It was the next big test, and its multiplayer preview had already won people over.

Then something small but lovely happened. Shuhei Yoshida, a PlayStation executive, tweeted congratulations to Phil Spencer on Forza Horizon 5’s launch. He said he’d visit Mexico in-game soon. That tweet was short and sweet, and it reminded me that the console wars are mostly a fan thing. The people running these companies can be gracious.

Halo Infinite was just next month. It had a technical preview in September, and the multiplayer reception was very positive. I wasn’t sure about the campaign yet, but I was hopeful. If Halo Infinite could land as well as Forza Horizon 5, Xbox might finally have the one-two punch it needed.

Game Pass was the secret weapon. It let me try Forza Horizon 5 without risking full price. It let my friends try it too. Some of them had never played a racing game. Now they were sending me screenshots of their cars. That’s what a good subscription service does: it opens doors for players to expand their taste.

Now it’s 2026, and I’m looking back with a lot of nostalgia. Forza Horizon 5 is still one of the best examples of a game that welcomed everyone. Halo Infinite came and went, with highs and lows, but its multiplayer proved the formula still worked. Xbox’s future looked bright back then, and in many ways it still does. The industry has changed. Console wars still rage online, but the executives have mostly moved on. Game Pass has evolved. New exclusives have arrived. Yet I still remember that November.

I also remember the note at the end of the conversation: Forza Horizon 5’s high review scores bode well for Fable. I’m still waiting for Fable to fully arrive, and I’m still hopeful. If Xbox can make a racing game that converts non-racing players, maybe it can make a fantasy RPG that converts non-RPG players too.

So here’s my regular-player take: Forza Horizon 5 wasn’t just a great racing game. It was the moment I stopped doubting Xbox. It launched on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on November 9, 2021. It came to Game Pass. It impressed people who didn’t care about cars. And it made the future of Xbox look bright. In 2026, that still matters to me. 🎮