Forza Horizon 6 Finally Revealed — New Setting Confirmed And It's a Game-Changer
Forza Horizon leaves familiar roads behind, racing into an all-new destination with a bold new spin on open-world driving.
Four years after Forza Horizon 5 turned Mexico into our favorite digital road trip, Playground Games has finally said the quiet part out loud: the next Horizon is real, and it is heading to Japan. About time.
The reveal (and yes, it was at Tokyo Game Show)
Microsoft used this year's Tokyo Game Show to lift the lid, rolling out a short teaser during an Xbox-dedicated broadcast. The clip does the coy thing: the camera strolls across a workbench sprinkled with winks to past Horizon locales, then slides into a wide shot of Mount Fuji. Subtle? Not even a little. Effective? Absolutely.
City lights, mountain passes, and everything in between
Art director Don Arceta popped up on Xbox Wire with a quick brief: the map spans both urban and rural Japan. Tokyo City is being built as one of the team's most dense, layered playgrounds to date, while the countryside leans into quiet mountain roads and scenic stretches — the kind of contrast Horizon lives on.
"Our goal has always been to capture the country's unique cultural essence and present it back in the most Horizon way possible."
Translation: it's not a 1:1 recreation, but it should feel right.
Seasons aren't just pretty — they matter
Arceta says seasonal change is central to how Japan looks and plays here, not just a visual filter. Cultural consultant Kyoko Yamashita adds that the team has built a system where the four seasons — spring, summer, autumn, winter — actually shift the world's tone, activity, and even sound. In other words: expect the map to breathe and behave differently as the year turns.
When you can play, and where
Forza Horizon 6 is slated for 2026 on Xbox Series X/S and PC, with day-one access on Xbox Game Pass. If you're wondering why anticipation is high: Horizon 5 was a monster, clearing 20+ million players in its first year. Japan feels like the no-brainer follow-up — and announcing it at TGS is a savvy bit of inside baseball from Xbox.
- Title: Forza Horizon 6
- Setting: Japan (urban Tokyo + rural and mountain regions)
- Key systems: Full seasonal changes that affect look, feel, activity, and sound
- Trailer tease: Workbench of past-location nods, ends on Mount Fuji
- Voices behind it: Art director Don Arceta; cultural consultant Kyoko Yamashita
- Platforms: Xbox Series X/S and PC
- Release window: 2026
- Availability: Xbox Game Pass at launch
- Context: Horizon 5 (set in Mexico) drew 20M+ players in year one