Forza Horizon 6

Forza Horizon 6 is an upcoming open-world racing game developed by Playground Games and published by Xbox Game Studios. Unlike traditional circuit racers that focus purely on realistic track competition, the Forza Horizon series blends arcade-style driving, exploration, car culture, and online multiplayer into a huge festival-themed world. In Horizon 6, players are dropped into a fictionalised version of Japan where they can freely drive across cities, mountain roads, countryside villages, forests, industrial areas, and highways while taking part in races and events at their own pace.

The game’s biggest focus is freedom and car culture. Players start out as a tourist arriving in Japan and gradually work their way into the Horizon Festival by completing races, activities, and challenges. As they progress, they unlock new wristbands, better cars, and eventually access special endgame content like Legend Island. Rather than forcing players through a strict career mode, Forza Horizon encourages exploration and experimentation. You might spend one session racing through Tokyo streets at night, then switch to drifting on mountain roads, photographing landmarks, or attending online car meets with other players.

Japan plays a huge role in the identity of Forza Horizon 6. The game features the largest map in the series so far, with Tokyo acting as its central city and being described as five times larger than previous Horizon cities. Playground Games wanted to capture the contrast Japan is known for - dense neon-lit urban areas alongside quiet countryside roads, bamboo forests, snowy mountain passes, cherry blossom-lined streets, and industrial docklands. The game also heavily draws inspiration from real Japanese car culture, including street racing scenes, touge mountain battles, and Daikoku-style car meets where players can show off their customised vehicles.

Cars are at the centre of the experience, with more than 550 vehicles available at launch. Players can extensively customise their cars visually and mechanically, store them across multiple garages, and even unlock a countryside estate that can be personalised with decorations and items. Multiplayer is also a major part of the game, allowing players to race together, explore the map cooperatively, or compete in modes like The Eliminator, the series’ battle royale-inspired mode.

Technically, Forza Horizon 6 is also a major step forward for the series. It is the first Horizon game built exclusively for modern hardware such as PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5, allowing Playground Games to create a far larger and more detailed world than before. The PC version includes advanced lighting and ray tracing features, while the overall presentation focuses heavily on recreating Japan’s changing seasons, weather, lighting, and atmosphere in a highly stylised but believable way.