FH6 Features Announced during Xbox Developer_Direct
22 January 2026
Below are the blogs published today with Xbox’s Developer_Direct 2026 broadcast, revealing gameplay and features in Forza Horizon 6.
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Forza.net | Forza Horizon 6 Releases May 19 on Xbox Series X|S and PC
Today during the Xbox Developer_Direct broadcast, we revealed that Forza Horizon 6 is coming to Xbox Series X|S and PC via the Microsoft Store and Steam on May 19, 2026, with Early Access for Premium Edition players starting four days earlier on May 15. In addition, Forza Horizon 6 is coming to PS5 later this year, and you can now add the game to your Wishlist on the PlayStation Store to be notified of availability.
We also shared the first ever Forza Horizon 6 gameplay – showcasing the breathtaking landscapes of Japan in all their glory, and we lifted the curtains on the spectacular cars that will be gracing the cover of the game – the 2025 GR GT Prototype, which is making its video game debut in Forza Horizon 6, and the 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser.
Read the full blog for details on features announced during the broadcast:
- Campaign, Horizon Festival, Wristbands, Legend Island
- Collection Journal: cars, houses, landmarks, mascots and more
- Japan, photogrammetry, Tokyo City, C1 loop, Gingko Avenue, Mt. Haruna, Bandai Azuma
- More than 550 cars, updated Forza Aero, liveries on windows, body kits, performance classes, Forza Edition cars, Aftermarket cars, 2025 GR GT Prototype cover car
- Remastered engine audio, new acoustic modelling technology, music and Japanese artists, environmental audio
- Player Houses, multi-car customizable garages, share/download garage layouts, Mountain Valley Estate
- Car Meets, Convoy, Street Races, Touge Battles, co-op LINK skills, Drag Meets, Horizon Time Attack Circuits, in-world leaderboard, The Eliminator, Hide & Seek, Spec Racing Championships
- EventLab, build anywhere in FH6, Horizon CoLab - multiplayer building
- Sign Language, Car Proximity Radar, Autodrive, High Contrast mode
Forza Horizon 6: More Details on the Country, The Culture, and the Cars of Playground Games Japan
- At today’s Developer_Direct, we got an extended look at Forza Horizon 6, brought to life in the stunning landscapes of Japan.
- We spoke to Design Director Torben Ellert about building the landscape, the cultural inspirations, and the many new additions coming to the game.
- Arriving for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud, Steam, and day one with Game Pass Ultimate*. Forza Horizon 6* will be an Xbox Play Anywhere title. Coming to PlayStation 5 later in 2026.
Forza Horizon 6’s sprawling, impressive map is separated into distinct districts, instantly recognizable as soon as you approach. The suburbs are dotted on the outskirts of Tokyo; narrow, undulating streets with telephone wires sweeping overhead, connecting clusters of modest homes.
Tokyo also has a docklands district, an industrial space piled high with huge cranes and colossal freighters, and there’s a delightful dichotomy between the looming, brutalist architecture built for tiny, bubbly city cars to zip around in.
There’s also the iconic downtown area, where you’ll see Shibuya Crossing, Ginko Avenue and Tokyo Tower – breathtaking landmarks bound together by dense urban streets, clever shortcuts and hidden paths, but all designed to support Horizon’s typically fast gameplay.
“The combination of enormous verticality, glass, neon signs, adverts for all manners of things, with Tokyo we’ve created this ultra-high-density space unlike anything we’ve made before,” Ellert adds. “It’s the most visually, radically different space we’ve ever built for a Horizon game.”
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You won’t end up in Japan alone – two of your close friends are coming to experience this adventure with you. Jordy is a passionate motorsports enthusiast, while Mei is an experienced Japanese car builder, and it’s her character that adds an insider’s perspective to your journey through Japan. That insider perspective was mirrored in the real world by Playground Games’ Cultural Consultant Kyoko Yamashita.
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In practice, The Estate is a flat area of land where you can build anything you want – a mountain hideaway, a personalized track for friends – the only real constraint is that the items will cost in-game currency. When you build something, you pay a few credits to put it down – credits you earn in other activities across the game world – and you get the credits back if you delete something.
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There are three locations in-game where permanent Car Meets take place. One is at the Horizon Festival, another is towards The Alps at the Okuibuki parking area, and the third is of course, at Daikoku itself. Here, players can roll up, meet other real players, check out their cars, download custom paint jobs and designs, and even purchase their own version of a car they like. It’s a seamless social space that you can enter alone or with a party of friends, and a neat way to really recreate that sense of community within Horizon 6 .
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“The 2025 GR GT Prototype is really special to us because it’s our hero cover car, but it’s also a car that you drive as part of what we call the Initial Experience,” Ellert adds. “It’s the first 10 minutes of the game where you get to drive the car, almost as a prelude. You get to do some off-roading in The Alps, race the Shinkansen (bullet train), and get a taste of what’s to come."
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“[Cars] are often the most expensive things that many of us will own. They are the most engineered things that many of us will own,” Ellert adds. “They are brash, they’re loud, they’re beautiful, they appear in fashion and fame, and they’re associated with celebrity, freedom, and the ability to go wherever you want to go.”
“And ultimately, that is what Horizon games are for me. They’re about freedom, and they’re about fun, and they’re about beauty, and they’re about community. Forza Horizon 6 is about giving people the ability to go where they want to go in beautiful machines, in a beautiful place, in a fun, approachable game with their friends.”
Forza Support | Forza Horizon 6 Developer_Direct FAQ
- Q: What is Forza Horizon 6?
- Q: When is the release date for Forza Horizon 6? What platforms will the game launch on?
- Q: When can I pre-order Forza Horizon 6?
- Q: Is there a pre-order bonus for purchasing Forza Horizon 6 before launch?
- Q: Will Forza Horizon 6 be available with Game Pass?
- Q: What are your localization plans for Forza Horizon 6?
- Q: Where can I stay up to date with the latest Forza Horizon 6 news and reveals?
- Purchase Q&A
- Location Q&A
- Campaign Q&A
- Cars Q&A
- Audio Q&A
- Multiplayer Q&A
- EventLab Q&A
- Tech Q&A
- Accessibility Q&A
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