“A World Where Every Road Leads to Discovery”: Forza Horizon 6 Heads to Japan, Launches May 19, 2026
Playground Games has officially unveiled Forza Horizon 6 during the Xbox Developer Direct 2026 event, confirming the franchise is taking its festival road trip across the ocean to Japan. After the new island setting leaked, the release date also leaked and was corroborated just hours before the show by Dealabs. Now it is confirmed: Forza Horizon 6 launches on May 19, 2026 for PC and Xbox Series X/S. A PlayStation 5 version is not launching on the same day, but is planned to arrive later in 2026 once it is ready.
What did not leak, and what absolutely carried the showcase, was the gameplay deep dive itself. Playground opened the event with Forza Horizon 6 and used it to establish a clear tonal shift from Forza Horizon 5. According to design director Torben Ellert, you are not starting as the Horizon festival superstar this time. You begin as a nobody, a tourist in Japan entering the festival at the bottom tier, then building your way up to Superstar status through progression that feels closer to a true climb. Xbox Wire reinforces this direction, describing Horizon 6 as more of a fresh start, designed to appeal not only to car enthusiasts but also players chasing a big personal goal.
Japan is being positioned as the biggest swing yet for the open world formula. Playground describes it as the largest map in Forza Horizon history, with more verticality than past entries and the largest urban district the series has ever shipped. The studio’s headline promise is simple and ambitious: it is “a world where every road leads to discovery.”
Playground is also raising the baseline for content volume at launch. Forza Horizon 6 will ship with 550 cars available day 1, the biggest launch roster in series history, and the studio says it has been rebalanced to improve variety and distribution across the full lineup. The game is also expanding how players express themselves beyond the car list. A new housing and garage experience gives you an entire mountain valley to populate with garages and buildings, turning your personal space into a showcase hub. In a notable pivot, building that valley is now designed as a multiplayer experience, meaning friends can contribute to how the area evolves and how your Horizon life looks to others.
With May 19, 2026 now locked for PC and Xbox Series X/S, Forza Horizon 6 has a clear runway and a clear identity. It is aiming to deliver a bigger world, a more grounded origin story for your rise, and a stronger social layer that extends beyond races and into shared progression and shared spaces.
What is your top priority for Forza Horizon 6, Japan map exploration, the 550 car launch roster, or the new multiplayer valley building system?
