The Forza Horizon games know how to make an entrance, and Forza Horizon 6 is no outlier.
Within moments of my hands-on preview beginning, the now-traditional intro sequence had me barrelling through the hills of breathtaking rural Japan in the game’s latest cover car – the 2025 GR GT Prototype – soaring past iconic landmarks, speeding down the Japanese Alps, and brazenly skidding up to a live rocket launch. This is the Forza experience the team wants you to have – sleek, superfast driving with an impeccable backdrop. And then, like some sort of petrol-fumed fever dream, the prologue is over and you’re left to discover this world for yourself.
In Forza Horizon 6, you’re no circuit superstar, here to rub shoulders with racing’s finest. Not yet, anyway. You’re a fan, a festival tourist, visiting Japan on a whim with two good friends. The Horizon Festival is in full swing, but your invite for the Invitational isn’t even in the post yet. You’ll need to qualify for the Invitational by proving your worth.
For newcomers, this narrative makes absolute sense as a tutorial while you get to grips with how these fantastically designed vehicles handle, their nuances, how they each respond to the environment, and what you’ll need to be driving for each type of activity.
“Japan is such an exciting, interesting, intriguing location that many people have wanted from [the Horizon] franchise for a long time, that we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Design Director Torben Ellert tells us in a new episode of the Official Xbox Podcast. “What would it feel like if the Festival was there? It wouldn’t dominate Japan, it would be part of Japan, and with that we asked: ‘how do we give players permission to just be in Japan?’ Well – tourism.”
One early game race is a tight, unpredictable zip through Tokyo’s urban district that allowed my modest first car – a 30-year-old Toyota Cecilia GT-Four – to shine (literally) through the dense, neon-soaked hotspots of Ginko Avenue and Shibuya Crossing. Another race is a cross-country affair full of rough terrain and water, and your starter off-roader, a ’70s GMC Jimmy, is the perfect accompaniment for these tumultuous routes.
But what makes Forza Horizon 6 feel incredibly special is how seamless and inviting this take on Japan is. Once you’re through a short section of introduction, the world is all yours. The campaign is there to guide you through the ranks and races at the heart of the game. Your car’s built-in AI guide is there to offer direction if you feel genuinely stuck. There’s a “golden path” for you to take – but there’s no need to take it at anything other than your own pace. For the most part, the goal is simply: Explore.
And that feels like the true innovation at the heart of Forza Horizon 6 – more than ever before, the game tasks you with finding what you want to do next, rather than simply heading from icon to icon on the map. It’s a philosophy that suffuses the game – there’s always another race in the Festival ‘campaign’ to complete, but there’s an equal sense that if you just take a different turn, you could discover something for yourself.
The clearest hint to that change comes from the map itself – for the first time, a Horizon game has a “fog of war”, with the map unveiling as you travel through it. It gives you a real sense of your journey through the game at a glance, not to mention makes each new icon feel like a discovery rather than something you simply pointed your GPS at.
“This new system is designed to tell you where you have been and what you have seen in a really legible way,” Ellert explains. “We have this rule with all of the Discover Japan content where if you find it, you can play it.”
“Ultimately, freedom is a core design pillar for us – we’ve really tried to not force you to go and do a specific thing, but instead, tempt you into going and doing them.”
During my preview time, those discoveries included Time Attacks, which let you set a best time on a specific lap around a route. Meanwhile, Drag Races are there for that insatiable urge to just go really, really fast, without having to worry about arbitrary nonsense like steering or corners. Both of these activities come with the added bonus of drawing from the wider player pool, and your friends list, to act like asymmetric multiplayer – these tracks will be filled with ghost cars from real players, and billboards displaying best times will constantly beckon you to try and beat their scores.
What made that experience even richer was the new Aftermarket Cars feature. As you travel through the world, you can now find time-limited opportunities to buy new cars at cheaper-than-normal prices. For me, that was stumbling upon a black Dodge SRT Demon, parked right next to a Drag Race spot, and I fortunately had enough credits on-hand to purchase it right away. The banged-up Toyota I brought to the Drag Race? Relegated to the garage. The Dodge? Immediately in my hands, ready to take for a spin.
According to Ellert, the Aftermarket Cars feature is informed by the desire to put interesting cars that are relevant to your gameplay experience right in front of you while you’re exploring, if that’s your preferred thing to do: “It’s a subtle suggestion of ‘hey, try this car out, take this car to this event’ – and it’s my hope that more people will experience these wonderful machines by us placing them in the open world, and making them cheaper to purchase.”
To push that need to explore even further, each area of Horizon’s Japan has a series of collectible mascots dotted around locations, which grant a small reward when collected. Some of them are set out on the side of the road, easily spottable as you pass, and some are tucked away, goading you to nosey down an as-yet unexplored path.
It’s a step forward for the Horizon series to add activities that make exploration feel not just viable, but exciting. There’s always a reason to veer off course and take a road you’ve never been down, poke around a suburb or a forest, or simply just stop to look at the sun-soaked horizon in front of you and just… drive towards it, because you can.
It’s the interconnectivity of all of these activities that make Forza Horizon 6 feel so magically immersive this time around. Every goal, side-mission or collectible item is right there on the road with you – whether it’s picking up a mascot, testing your car’s paces at a Time Attack stop, or challenging a passing player’s Drivatar to a quick battle.
These features extend way beyond what we saw in the preview too – the Journal is another fresh addition to Forza Horizon 6 that adds another layer of intrigue to the world around you. With the Journal, you can collect photographs of iconic landmarks and hotspots, to create your own personalized account of your journey in Japan.
The personalization can also be felt within Horizon 6’s garage customization options – which we got a small glimpse of at Mei’s house – your first “base” in the game. Each home you purchase from there on out comes with its own garage that you can design however you like – deck it out with furniture, floodlights, odd objects, or leave the cars to be the star of the show. It’s entirely up to you – your adventure, your space.
It is, as Ellert puts it, about “giving players agency over the place where they keep their cars.” You can build something grounded, realistic and gritty, like a garage, or something wildly ephemeral like a secret lair or a dinosaur jungle, – or whatever else you can think of.
“That just felt in-line with what we saw players doing, and we know that having agency over the world, and being able to earn and build something that is yours, is a really fun and compelling thing.”
With more reasons to simply hop into your chosen car and drive – not just because you’re trying to win races or climb Festival ranks – Forza Horizon 6 taps into more than just a love of driving competitively. It’s passionate about exploration in a way we’ve never seen inside a Horizon game – it invites you to explore the world, unlock the map, take your favorite vehicles out for a spin because you feel like it, because there is something out there on offer, something to discover. Your cars aren’t just a tool for victory and prowess, they become your partner in this mesmerizing journey. And with a breathtaking environment like ray-traced Japan, it’s incredibly hard to refuse.
Forza Horizon 6 launches May 19, 2026, and will be available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Xbox Cloud as an Xbox Play Anywhere title, and playable day one with Xbox Game Pass.
Check out the full interview with Forza Horizon 6 Design Director Torben Ellert and Art Director Don Arceta in the latest episode of the Official Xbox Podcast, linked above.
Forza Horizon 6
Xbox Game Studios
Discover the breathtaking landscapes of Japan in over 550 real-world cars and become a racing Legend at the Horizon Festival. Start your journey as a tourist and explore a world full of hit music and Japanese culture. Build a Valley Estate, acquire awe-inspiring homes, and display your prized car collection in fully Customizable Garages. Cruise the roads with your friends and join Car Meets around Japan, unleash your imagination with EventLab and build together in Horizon CoLab.*
Your journey to a Horizon Legend starts now – Japan Awaits!
EXPERIENCE TOKYO, HORIZON’S LARGEST EVER CITY
Welcome to Japan, a place where the stunning contrasts of rural and urban come together as you uncover the secrets hidden within Horizon’s most dense map yet, full of verticality, diverse biomes and spectacular driving experiences. Cruise the suburbs and iconic downtown streets or challenge yourself in the docks and industrial districts of Tokyo City, the largest ever urban area in a Forza Horizon game, and the home for car enthusiasts.
FEEL IMMERSED IN JAPANESE CAR CULTURE
Drive over 550 real-world cars, including some much loved and fan favorite JDM classics, featuring cutting-edge engine audio and updated steering animations with up to 540 degrees of wheel rotation. As you explore Japan, collect special Forza Edition cars fitted with extreme modifications and find rare Aftermarket Cars to test drive and buy. Your path to making a name for yourself will see you meet the Legends of the Horizon Festival, participate in Touge Battles, and experience authentic stories rooted in Japan’s legendary car culture.
RACE AND DISCOVER IN JAPAN
In Forza Horizon 6, you will explore a vast campaign of discovery and Festival racing, playable solo and in co-op with your friends.* You’ll start as a tourist and must prove you’ve got what it takes to join the Horizon Festival as a rookie driver, all while you Discover Japan and complete your Collection Journal. Qualify for the Festival in the Horizon Invitational, then rise through the ranks in progressively faster cars and earn new Wristbands to become a Horizon Legend. Your newfound status will grant you access to Legend Island, an exclusive space reserved for the greatest drivers.
MAKE THE WHOLE WORLD YOURS
Your journey will see you purchase gorgeous homes in Japan, each with customizable garages – allowing you to create the ideal spaces to showcase your car collection, or you can download layouts shared online by the community. Unlock the Estate, a mountain valley where you can build freely in the open world, creating nearly anything you can imagine. And for your favorite cars, those can be upgraded with body kits and new Forza Aero options, as well as the ability to paint custom liveries on windows.
JOIN THE COMMUNITY IN MULTIPLAYER
This Festival is always better with your friends.* Seamlessly participate in Time Attack Circuits and Drag Meets or show off your customized cars at Car Meets. Earn new co-op LINK skills with other players, compete in Spec Racing Championships, or jump into the Horizon Multiplayer modes you know and love including The Eliminator and nailbiting Hide & Seek.
BUILD TOGETHER, ANYWHERE IN JAPAN
Create with unprecedented freedom anywhere in Japan as you build custom events with your friends in CoLab, the upgraded EventLab toolset – now featuring multiplayer support* and the ability to build literally anywhere in the world. Share your masterpieces for everyone to play and discover an always evolving catalog of exciting new content created by the community.
THE FESTIVAL FOR EVERY DRIVER
Hit the open road in our most approachable Horizon game yet. Our customization options include Granular High Contrast Mode, Car Proximity Radar, American and British Sign Language, and AutoDrive, allowing players to experience the beautiful cars, hit music and spectacular locations of the Horizon Festival.
Discover your Legend, and Explore the Contrasts and Culture of Japan.
*Online console multiplayer requires a Game Pass subscription that includes online multiplayer, sold separately.
The post Forza Horizon 6 Preview: Collectibles, Seamless Races and Open World Design Make for the Most Explorable Adventure Yet appeared first on Xbox Wire.
