What a strange timeline we live in, my friends. According to several sources, the next Xbox exclusive game to make the trip over to PlayStation to join the likes of Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves will be announced next week.
Word comes by way of the extremely reliable Shinobi602. Replying to a user on ResetEra who pondered when the next round of ported games are coming, Shinobi replied with: “What are you doing next week?”
Shinobi would go on to say that “[I don’t know] about multiple [games]. But a big one at least, ” when replying to someone who guessed Killer Instinct would be one of “multiple” games.
Of course, Gamescom 2024 will be taking place next week, so the timing would certainly seem right for something big.
Speculation began swirling about what the game could be, with a number of people throwing out Forza Horizon 5. Notable Game Pass leaker eXtas1s quoute tweeted an image of Shinobi’s words and added a gif that reads “feliz cinco de mayo.” This Mexican reference helped fuel the idea that Horizon 5 would be the game announced since it’s set in Mexico.
Since eXtas1s’s tweet garnered so much attention, he discussed the subject further. He clarified that yes, Forza Horizon 5 is coming to PlayStation and it won’t be “too long.” He went on to say “The announcement? It doesn’t matter if it happens this week, next week or the other, but it is coming to PS5 in the next few months as confirmed in my GIF and as many colleagues have already corroborated.”
His comments have been translated to English, so please keep in mind it may not be 100% accurate.
It’s also worth remembering that while eXtas1s is incredibly reliable when it comes to all things Game Pass, outside of that specific subject he tends to miss as often as he hits.
However, Jez Corden of Windows Central states that “My sources indicate that Forza will not be announced for PlayStation next week.” He goes on to say that he cannot confirm “what game, if any, will be announced as a port next week.”
Meanwhile, Mike Straw of Insider Gaming has said that they have also heard Forza Horizon 5 is one of the game’s planned for a PlayStation port, but can’t confirm when it will happen.
There has also been a previous leak which came from Amazon.co.uk which briefly listed Forza Horizon 5 for PlayStation 5 with a release date of September 27, 2024. It also showed five other formats, including the Nintendo Switch. This could easily be the result of an unreliable search engine and a mistake by Amazon, though.
Given the mixed signals coming from these insiders, it seem like there’s a small chance Forza Horizon 5 will be coming to Sony’s machine quite soon, but that Horizon 5 is not next week’s big announcement. So what could it be? Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the upcoming Indiana Jones game in order to maximise the money Xbox can grab from the license.
Putting Forza Horizon 5 onto a PlayStation would be a massive step for Xbox, as the Forza brand is a cornerstone of Xbox in much the same way that Gears of War is. To see the Forza name on a Sony console would almost feel a defeat for Xbox, a form of capitulation.