Overview
- Playground Games reported more than 6 million players within days of the game's early access on May 15 and its full launch on May 19, and SteamDB recorded a new Steam peak of about 284,139 concurrent players.
- Analyst Alinea Analytics estimates roughly 4.9–5 million paid copies sold and about $325 million gross in week one, while more than 3 million people accessed the game via Xbox Game Pass, which analysts say likely reduced some direct sales.
- Developers publicly acknowledged widespread complaints about Drivatar opponents feeling too fast or aggressive and said on May 22 they are reviewing player data and feedback before implementing balance changes.
- Playground Games has launched hotfixes and is addressing PC problems reported by players, including framerate issues on AMD GPUs, audio crackling on some configurations, and crashes tied to invalid loading errors.
- Critics praise the Japan setting and core driving systems (Metacritic 91) even as many players dislike the constant Horizon Festival presentation, and the studio has outlined an ongoing live‑service plan with monthly playlists, a paid Car Pass, future expansions, and a planned PS5 release later in 2026.