The fifth entry in Microsoft's Forza Horizon series was played by over 4.5 million people on its first day in the wild.

That's according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer (pictured), who revealed the figure on Twitter saying that this was the biggest launch for an Xbox Game Studios title to date. This is across PC, console and cloud platforms.

Furthermore, Forza Horizon 5 had three times the peak concurrent users as the previous entry in the franchise.

"We've invested for years in Xbox so more people can play," Spencer wrote.

"With 4.5+ million players so far across PC, cloud & console, Forza Horizon 5 shows that promise coming to life."

Forza Horizon 5 launched on November 9th, with some users being able to play ahead of its official release thanks to early access via a Premium edition of the game. The title was developed by the UK's Playground Games, which Microsoft acquired in 2018. The studio is also making a new Fable title.

Two million player Forza Horizon 4 in the first two weeks following its release back in 2018.