Category: Tokyo Game Show

Forza Horizon 6: Answering the Big Questions About That Japan Setting

Joe Skrebels, Xbox Wire Editor-in-Chief

After years of requests, it’s official – Forza Horizon 6 is coming in 2026, and it will be set in Japan. Announced today during the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 Broadcast, we saw a cinematic teaser trailer that included Easter eggs from each of the previous games in the open world driving series – before offering a glimpse at the incredible world Playground Games is creating.

Of course, a teaser trailer is always going to generate a lot more questions – and thankfully I was able to go straight to Playground Games to get answers. In discussion with Art Director, Don Arceta and Cultural Consultant, Kyoko Yamashita, we dug into exactly why Japan was chosen as the next location to explore, how this take on Japan will feel like a true reflection of the real-life country, and much more.

Why Was Japan the Right Fit for the Next Forza Horizon Game?

With Playground Games able to take their pick of setting from anywhere in the world, picking the right location could be seen as a challenge – but, with Japan, so much was already in place.

“For a long time, Japan has been top of Horizon fans’ wish lists, so we’re excited to finally be bringing this much-requested location to players in Forza Horizon 6,” explains Arceta. “Japan has such a unique culture – from cars, to music, to fashion – that make it perfect for the next Horizon setting. As with any Horizon title, we want to make sure we do the country justice in terms of authentic representation and Horizon open world playability – and now is the right time to realize that fully for players.”

The timing is right, in part, due to practicalities – it now feels as though the technical side can keep up with representing Japan correctly, and Playground’s developers also come armed with a huge amount of experience from previous games.

“The beauty of Horizon games is that each one gives us learnings and ways to make the next even bigger and better,” says Arceta. “As well as taking player feedback into account, we’ve also been able to lean into more practical things – for instance, the Forza Horizon 5 Hot Wheels DLC has helped us develop the elevated roads of Tokyo City in FH6.”

Yamashita adds that Japan is just a naturally interesting place to make your way around, making it a perfect match for the kind of exploration a Horizon game encourages: “I love the coexistence of Japan: a neighborhood shrine beside a small workshop beside a neon arcade – traditional and modern on the same block. There is so much scope and inspiration to be explored with Japan, and the richness felt like a natural fit for this game.”

With Xbox going big at Tokyo Game Show, it also made it a natural fit to announce the game today. “While fans have been asking for this location for a long time, it was important to us to acknowledge the love and reverence we have for Japan and its unique culture,” Arceta continues. “What better way to do that than announcing in Tokyo at Japan’s biggest gaming event of the year?”

What Japanese Locations Will Be Included?

Horizon games regularly perform the feat of recreating an entire country as a single, seamless map. It’s never a one-to-one chunk of the real world, rather a blend of locations that balance player fun with capturing the spirit of their inspiration. Japan, with so many varied and familiar locations, presents a huge palette of possibilities for the team. While the teaser shows us Mount Fuji and its surroundings, where else will Playground pull from?

“While we’re not announcing too much in terms of detail right now, we’re excited to show fans the true breadth of beauty – both natural and urban environments – that Japan has to offer,” explains Arceta. “From the neon lights and towering buildings of Tokyo City – one of our most detailed and layered environments to date – to the serenity and natural beauty of Japan’s rural and mountain areas, we think players will be blown away by the open world of Japan that we have built.

“And while we are not necessarily trying to recreate Japan and its environments like for like, our goal has always been to capture the country’s unique cultural essence and present it back in the most Horizon way possible.”

Research was a huge part of this process – Arceta, Yamashita, and the team travelled to Japan to help capture details that might not be as obvious when working simply from reference material.

“The trip to Japan demonstrated that the dev team were truly approaching Japan with the right level of curiosity and observation,” enthuses Yamashita. “During our fieldwork in Tokyo, most of the group were first-time visitors. A few days in, someone said, ‘For all the energy here, it’s… quiet.’ That observation – organized chaos with surprising calm – told me they weren’t just looking; they were feeling the place. It’s the kind of insight you can’t fake, and it shaped later conversations about movement, etiquette, and sound.”

How Will This Game Feel Authentic to Real-Life Japan?

As you can see above, Playground Games didn’t just conduct their own extensive research into their chosen setting. Bringing in Yamashita as a consultant, early in the development process, ensured that they were capturing the reality of the country, beyond simply how it looks. As an expert in Japanese culture, and a lifelong car enthusiast, Yamashita brings a hugely valuable perspective that’s been applied throughout development. It means that, beyond stunning landscapes, the tiniest details of Japanese life have been observed, pored over, and included.

“Japan is widely loved, but it can also be widely misread when you only see it from afar,” Yamashita explains. “The team wanted to present more than a postcard or a backdrop; they wanted a lived-in world. Having a cultural consultant early helps you make a thousand small, respectful decisions: how neighborhoods sound, even what a sign color communicates about a shop. Those small choices add up to credibility and help avoid stereotypes, while also making it a truly immersive experience for players.

“Throughout the process of building the game, we have treated authenticity as a practice, not a checkbox. I’m embedded in decision cycles – scripts, visuals, and audio – asking questions like, ‘What would this street feel like at dusk in late summer?’ or ‘Which sound anchors this scene: traffic or a station chime?’

For Yamashita and the rest of the team, the aim is that the game doesn’t just feel like digital tourism for those outside Japan, but that it means something to those that know the country most intimately:

“For locals and people who know Japan well, my hope is recognition: ‘Yes, that’s how it flows.’ Getting that balance right is a way of honoring the culture and the community that loves it.  It really will feel like a first time trip to Japan for players who have never been. We even hope that it might inspire some folks to take a real-world visit.”

How Will the Game Reflect Japanese Car Culture?

With a huge history with cars all its own, choosing Japan as a setting isn’t just a chance to create a beautiful place, but to reflect that history as you play.

“While we can’t reveal any specific details quite yet, we will of course be following in the footsteps of Forza Horizon 5 in delivering a broad range of cars that players will know and love. Japan – of course – has a unique car culture all of its own, and we’re excited to have the opportunity to explore that in this game,” says Arceta.

“In Japanese car culture, the depth and diversity is astonishing,” adds Yamashita. “Kei cars and vans with cult followings, precision motorsport, drifting’s roots, and their passion for customization really stands out. It’s welcoming to different levels of enthusiasm and knowledge, which is exactly the kind of layered world I want players to feel.”

Will Forza Horizon 6 Include Changing Seasons?

Since Forza Horizon 4, Playground has been developing open worlds that can change as you play, with true-to-life seasons that fundamentally alter the setting around you. Japan features some of the most well-known, beautiful seasonal changes in the world – sweltering summers, snowy winters and, of course, the iconic Sakura season, those precious weeks where cherry blossoms bloom across the country.

“Horizon players will be well acquainted with seasonal changes as a core part of the experience,” says Arceta. “For Japan, seasonal changes have a dramatic impact on the landscape and playable world, but also hold a deeper cultural meaning for the country and its culture.”

As such, in Forza Horizon 6, seasonal changes aren’t just about changing how the game looks, but how it feels:

“The team has also been able to build a system where seasonal changes truly inform the world – how spring, summer, autumn, and winter subtly shift tone, activity, and sound,” explains Yamashita. “The team is also really proud of the attention to everyday details: ambient audio like station chimes or summer wind bells that instantly place you without a caption. Those are quiet choices, but they carry a lot of truth.”

When Can We See Gameplay?

Of course, today’s announcement was just a tease of what’s to come, and there’s much more to learn about the game itself, beyond where it’s set. We won’t have to wait long to see more:

“We’ll be revealing more on FH6 in early 2026,” says Arceta. “Fans should keep an eye on our official Forza channels for more updates. We can’t wait!”

Forza Horizon 6 will launch first on Xbox consoles and PC in 2026. With the excitement for this franchise on other platforms, Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios are also working together to bring Forza Horizon 6 to PlayStation 5 post-launch. For now, players can wishlist on Xbox and Steam, and we can’t wait to share more details on Forza Horizon 6 early next year.