By Alex Lee

Copyright independent

The Horizon Festival’s next stop has been announced. One of the worst-kept secrets in Forza history, Forza Horizon 6 was announced at Xbox’s Tokyo Game Show on Thursday.

The new game will take place in Japan for the first time. The announcement was accompanied by a teaser trailer that paid homage to all previous locations, before panning up to reveal blossom trees blowing across Mount Fuji.

Confirmed for launch on the Xbox Series X/S and PC next year, the game will also be coming to the PS5 at a later date. Little is known about the game besides the setting, but we can make some educated guesses based on previous entries, including the potential Forza Horizon 6 release date, price and more. Here’s what we know about Playground Games’ next open-world racing title (so far).

Not very much right now. While we know that Forza Horizon 6 is taking place in Japan, Playground Games’ art director Don Arceta added that the game will showcase everything Japan has to offer.

“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,” Arceta said.

Playground also brought in a cultural consultant to ensure the setting felt lived-in, rather than just a mere postcard. In terms of cars, Arceta says that there will be a “broad range of cars that players know and love”, but Japan’s unique car culture will also be shown off.

Seasons will also play an even bigger part in the upcoming title. “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,” explained cultural consultant Kyoko Yamashita. “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.”

Playground Games has announced that Forza Horizon 6 will launch in 2026, but hasn’t stated an exact release date. That said, we can make some educated guesses based on previous entries in the franchise.

Right now, we’re leaning towards a late 2026 release window. The multi-award-winning Forza Horizon 5 launched on 5 November 2021, Horizon 4 released on 2 October 2018 and Horizon 3 launched on 27 September 2016. October and November are quite likely to be the months you’ll want to bookmark.

Playground Games has announced that Forza Horizon 6 will first launch on the Xbox Series X/S and PC in 2026.

The developer also confirmed that Horizon 6 will be released on PS5 at a later date. Forza Horizon 5 marked the first time a Forza Horizon title launched on PlayStation, arriving on Sony’s console five months after its Xbox release.

You can already add Forza Horizon 6 to your Xbox Game Pass wish list.

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