Pokémon Pokopia has been knocked off its Metacritic podium by Forza Horizon 6, which launches on Xbox and PC this week and next.
We’re approaching the end of the first half of 2026 now and the fight for the year’s best video game has been a tight one so far, with the top-rated game on Metacritic constantly changing.
Resident Evil Requiem seemed like it would safely hold the top spot when it launched in February, only for Pokémon Pokopia to come out a month later and catch everyone off guard by being one of the best Pokémon games ever made.
It initially overtook Requiem before settling for joint first place, but now Forza Horizon 6 (which launched for Premium Edition owners today) has handily pipped both games to the post.
At the time of writing, Forza Horizon 6 holds an average Metacritic score of 92 whereas Pokémon Pokopia and Resident Evil Requiem are at joint second place with scores of 89.
It’s important to note that Metacritic scores are also determined by the number of reviews. Forza Horizon 6 has 65 whereas Pokémon Pokopia has 111, so the latter has a broader range of scores.
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You could also argue that, if you go by individual platforms, the Xbox Series X version of Resident Evil Requiem is the best game of the year since it has a score of 93, but that’s based on only 15 reviews. The PlayStation 5 version was the most reviewed, so its score is used as the default.
Not that it really matters, since all three games are fantastic and highly recommended, although we did need to deliberate on Forza Horizon 6’s final score more than the other two, since while it is extremely fun to play, it doesn’t really do anything new.
Hopefully, this won’t be the case with Forza Horizon 7, whenever that happens, although that’s likely far from a priority at developer Playground Games when it’s still working on its Fable game for later this year.
Microsoft is bound to be pleased with the accolades and while it’s far too early to tell how much it’s sold, Forza Horizon 6 is off to a strong start on Steam, charting as the second best-selling game on the platform.
If you’re wondering what else could be outselling it, the answer is Subnautica 2, the long-awaited sequel to the original underwater survival game, which launched yesterday in early access, after a whole legal drama involving publisher Krafton.
While Forza Horizon 6 is the more mainstream release, Subnautica 2 is substantially cheaper at £25.99, compared to the former’s £59.99 price tag. That’s just for the standard edition as well, whereas the deluxe edition costs £89.99 and the Premium Edition costs £109.99.
Subnautica 2’s launch has also bolstered sales of the original game and its Below Zero follow-up, both of which are heavily discounted and are fifth and sixth, respectively, in the Steam sales charts.
As a reminder, Forza Horizon 6 will become publicly available on Tuesday, May 19 for Xbox Series X and PC. The PlayStation 5 port, meanwhile, isn’t coming out until later this year and still lacks an exact release date.
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