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Forza Horizon 5 Multiplayer Guide: Every Online Mode, Cross-Play, and How to Play with Friends

Forza Horizon 5 features one of the deepest multiplayer suites in any racing game, with cross-play between Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC (Microsoft Store and Steam) and Xbox Cloud Gaming all sharing the same lobbies. This page is a complete tour of every named online mode — Horizon Open, The Eliminator, Horizon Tour, Online Adventure, The Trial and the ForzaLink social system — with how to access them, player counts and what makes each mode different. With FH6 launching May 19, 2026, FH5’s multiplayer is still very active in 2026 and is the best way to understand how Playground Games’ multiplayer template works.

Key Facts

Field	Value
Release Date	November 9, 2021
Cross-Play Platforms	Xbox Series X\|S, Xbox One, PC (Microsoft Store / Xbox app), Steam, Xbox Cloud Gaming
Free-Roam Session Size	Up to 72 players
Convoy Size	Up to 12 players
Eliminator Player Count	Up to 72 players (battle-royale style)
Horizon Tour Player Count	6 players co-op vs Drivatars
Online Adventure Player Count	12 players (two teams of 6) in PvP championships
The Trial Player Count	6 humans co-op vs Unbeatable Drivatars
Online Subscription Required (Xbox)	No — online multiplayer is free
Online Subscription Required (PC)	No
Ranked Mode	Yes — Horizon Open features skill-rated matchmaking per discipline
Split-Screen	(unconfirmed)

Online Modes at a Glance

Mode	Players	Type
Horizon Open	Up to 12 per race / 72 in free roam	PvP, skill-rated
The Eliminator	72	Battle royale PvP
Horizon Tour	6	Co-op vs Drivatars
Online Adventure	12 (two teams of 6)	Team PvP championship
The Trial	6 humans + 11 Drivatars	Weekly co-op vs Unbeatable AI
Horizon Arcade	Up to 12	Drop-in mini-games

Cross-Play and How Online Sessions Work

Forza Horizon 5 supports full cross-play across every supported platform from launch, all sharing one matchmaking pool:

Xbox Series X|S
Xbox One
PC via Microsoft Store / Xbox app
PC via Steam (players matchmake with Xbox players)
Xbox Cloud Gaming

From the official Forza Support FAQ: “Forza Horizon 5 supports cross-play between Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Windows 10/11, Steam, and Xbox Cloud Gaming.” Unlike many cross-play games, there is no opt-out toggle to restrict matchmaking to console-only or PC-only, and there is no separate Steam pool.

A single Horizon Life free-roam session holds up to 72 players drawn from any combination of platforms. You can join from the menus (Online → Horizon Life) or directly from the pause menu’s Convoy/Player Roster screens. Crucially, online play on Xbox and PC does not require Xbox Game Pass Core or any paid subscription — Microsoft has made FH5 multiplayer free on console since launch.

For context on how this compares to the next entry in the series, see the FH6 multiplayer cross-play guide.

Horizon Open: Drop-In Cross-Platform Racing

Horizon Open is the default home for pick-up-and-play online racing. It is split into discipline-based playlists — Road Racing, Dirt Racing, Cross Country, Open Drift, Open Class, Playground Games and Open Custom — and uses skill-based matchmaking with a hidden rating per discipline.

IGN’s official Forza Horizon 5 wiki guide describes it as: “Horizon Open is the multiplayer mode of Forza Horizon 5. … There are seven game modes within Horizon Open, each with their own playlist and matchmaking pool.”

Key points:

Up to 12 players per Horizon Open race lobby.
PR Stunts (Drift Zones, Speed Zones, Danger Signs, Speed Traps) all count for credits and accolades in Horizon Open Free Roam, the same way they do in single-player.
Skill rating goes up or down based on finishing position, separately for each playlist.
Cars are not restricted to a single PI class in most playlists — Open Class accepts S2 998 builds, while Road Racing caps at A 800.
Playground Games hosts Infected, King and Flag Rush mini-games on dedicated arenas.

Horizon Open is the closest thing FH5 has to a ranked mode and is the most cross-platform-busy queue at any given time.

The Eliminator: Battle Royale on the Horizon Map

The Eliminator drops up to 72 players onto the full FH5 Mexico map in a head-to-head battle-royale format originally introduced in Forza Horizon 4 and ported into FH5 at launch.

From IGN’s mode guide: “The Eliminator is a battle royale style mode where 72 players spawn into the map and must compete in one-on-one head-to-head races to take out other players.”

How it works:

All 72 players spawn into a free-roam map with a shrinking arena boundary, similar to PUBG or Fortnite.
Each player starts in a Level 1 car (typically a Dodge Power Wagon or VW Beetle); car drops spread across the map upgrade you to higher levels (max Level 10). See the FH5 full car list for all vehicles that appear as Eliminator drops.
Challenging another player triggers a head-to-head race to a flag — the loser is eliminated, the winner can take the loser’s car level if it is higher.
A final 1v1 race decides the winner.

The Eliminator is fully cross-platform, has no entry fee, and is one of the few modes where the full map is in active multiplayer use. Matches typically last 15–25 minutes.

Horizon Tour, Online Adventure and The Trial

These three modes are the structured co-op-vs-AI and PvP-championship offerings.

Mode	Players	Vs.	Where to Start
Horizon Tour	6 humans co-op	Drivatars	Online menu → Horizon Tour
Online Adventure	12 humans, 2 teams of 6	Other team	Online menu → Horizon Adventure (Ranked/Unranked)
The Trial	6 humans co-op	Unbeatable Drivatars	Festival Playlist — weekly

Horizon Tour chains together a series of races from a host’s chosen route — up to 6 players join, race together against Drivatars and receive shared credit and XP rewards. It is intentionally casual: there is no skill rating and no demolition between players, making it a friendly entry point to online play.

Online Adventure is the team-based championship mode. 12 players split into two teams of 6 and complete a 3-event championship covering a road race, an off-road race and a Playground Games event such as Flag Rush. Both Ranked and Unranked variants exist; Ranked feeds a separate seasonal leaderboard.

The Trial is the marquee weekly co-op event in the Festival Playlist. 6 human players take on 11 Drivatars set to Unbeatable. It rewards a unique car or wheelspin each Series and is well-known in the community for being brutally hard if teammates do not cooperate. See the Festival Playlist weekly guide to track the current rotation and reward car.

All three modes are cross-play across Xbox, PC and Steam.

ForzaLink is FH5’s social glue — a built-in voice and matchmaking layer that automatically suggests joining friends’ Convoys, lets you broadcast a looking-for status, and pulls Xbox party chat into the game UI. From Playground Games’ own coverage, ForzaLink is described as the system that lets “players form a convoy and seamlessly travel together into races, events, and free roam.”

Core social features:

Convoys: up to 12 players group together and move between activities as a unit. The convoy leader picks the next event; everyone teleports in.
Player Roster: the pause menu lists everyone in your 72-player free-roam session, with one-click invites to Convoy, head-to-head race or Friendly Race.
Horizon Arcade: drop-in/drop-out 12-player mini-game playlists — Smash, Piñata Pop, Survival, Spectacle — running on a rolling schedule in free roam with no matchmaking screen. See the Horizon Arcade guide for full event details.
Rivals: asynchronous ghost-vs-ghost time attack across hundreds of routes — technically multiplayer in that you race other players’ ghosts.
Tunes, Designs and Photos: shared via the in-game Creative Hub, where downloads count toward your creator’s Influence rewards.

Note: traditional local split-screen support in FH5 is (unconfirmed) — the launch FAQ does not list it as a feature, and Playground’s previous Horizon games have not shipped with split-screen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Forza Horizon 5 multiplayer free?

Yes. On both Xbox and PC, no paid online subscription is required to play Forza Horizon 5 multiplayer. You only need to own (or have via Game Pass) the game itself and an internet connection.

Is Forza Horizon 5 cross-platform?

Yes. FH5 supports full cross-play between Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC (Microsoft Store / Xbox app), Steam and Xbox Cloud Gaming, all sharing the same matchmaking pool. There is no PS5 version of FH5.

How many players are in a Forza Horizon 5 session?

A single Horizon Life free-roam session holds up to 72 players. The Eliminator also supports 72 players. Convoys cap at 12, Horizon Open races at 12, Online Adventure at 12 (two teams of six), and Horizon Tour and The Trial at 6 humans.

What is the difference between Horizon Open and Horizon Tour?

Horizon Open is competitive PvP racing with skill-based matchmaking and a hidden rating. Horizon Tour is casual co-op, where up to 6 humans race together against Drivatars on a host-picked chain of events with no demolition between players.

What is The Eliminator in Forza Horizon 5?

The Eliminator is a battle-royale mode where 72 players spawn into a shrinking arena on the FH5 map and challenge each other to head-to-head races. The winner of each duel can take the loser’s car level, working up to Level 10. The last driver standing wins.

How do I play The Trial in Forza Horizon 5?

The Trial is a weekly Festival Playlist event accessed from the Pause menu under Festival Playlist. Six human players team up against eleven Drivatars set to Unbeatable across a three-race championship; finishing first as a team rewards a unique reward car or wheelspin.

What is ForzaLink in Forza Horizon 5?

ForzaLink is FH5’s integrated social and voice system that lets up to 12 friends form a Convoy and travel between races, events and free roam together with shared invites and Xbox party chat surfaced in-game.

Sources

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