Halo Infinite Was The Series’ Biggest Launch Ever, Forza Horizon 5 Crosses 18 Million Players

gameinformer.com:

To probably nobody’s surprise, Halo Infinite is a hit. Not only did it review well back when it was officially released in December – Game Informer gave it a 9.25 out of 10 – but many people played it. A quick scroll through Twitter would have told you that, but thanks to Microsoft’s second-quarter earnings call, we now know just how much. 

Video Games Chronicle reports that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who is likely still riding the high of acquiring Activision Blizzard, said more than 20 million players have played halo Infinite. Halo Infinite’s multiplayer was launched as a beta back in November before the campaign was released on December 8 on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC (and on Xbox and PC Game Pass as well).

That’s not all, though, as Nadella also revealed that Forza Horizon 5, the latest arcade racer from Playground Games, has been played by more than 18 million players since its release on Xbox consoles and PC last November. 

“The big bets we have made across content, community, and cloud over the past few years are paying off,” Nadella said, according to VGC. “We saw record engagement as well as revenue this quarter. Game Pass has more than 25 million subscribers across PC and console. We released AAA titles this holiday to rave reviews and record usage. Eighteen million played Forza Horizon 5 and more than 20 million have played Halo Infinite, making it the biggest Halo launch in history.” 

For more, read our thoughts on these games in Game Informer’s Halo Infinite review and Game Informer’s Forza Horizon 5 review. Check out how Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard stacks up against other entertainment acquisitions after that. 

[Source: Video Games Chronicle]

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