Forza Horizon 6 release date seemingly leaked in Horizon 5, Xbox itself says it's coming this spring

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An in-game pop-up seemingly delivered the information

Mt Fuji seen in the cinematic teaser for Forza Horizon 6.
(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

It appears the Forza Horizon 6 release date has been pre-emptively revealed, by an in-game advertisement in another Forza game. A pop-up in the prior installment is telling players exactly when to expect the sequel, and it's just a few months away, apparently.

According to a call for pre-orders in Forza Horizon 5, posted by Xbox Infinite on Twitter, Forza Horizon 6 is coming out on May 19, 2026. Those who pick up the Premium Edition can allegedly enjoy the racer a few days earlier, on May 15, as well as enjoy a small smattering of digital goodies. You get VIP Membership, a welcome pack, a car pass, and the time attack car pack, in addition to having post-release DLC already secured.

"Discovers the breathtaking landscapes of Japan in over 550 real-world cars," the blurb on the advert reads, "and become a racing Legend in Forza Horizon’s biggest open world driving adventure yet." It should be noted that some people have been unable to replicate this announcement at the time of writing, though VGC reports it to be true.

This spring would line up with potential plans for the sixth Forza Horizon game. It's confirmed to be part of an Xbox Developer Direct on January 22, where we'll see gameplay for the first time and will likely get the official release date. The last game came out in November 2021 for Xbox Series X/S and PC, followed by an April 2022 release for PlayStation 5, and it looks like that timeline will be flipped for this one, with the Xbox and PC versions arriving to kick off summer, while PS5 gets it in time for Christmas.

Xbox and Microsoft have yet to comment on this possible reveal. If they do, we'll let you know, otherwise we're all waiting until January 22.

Forza Horizon 6 is the first game in the series set in Japan because Playground Games wanted to "do the country justice," and its Hot Wheels DLC helped that happen

Anthony McGlynn
Anthony McGlynn
Contributing Writer

Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.

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