As part of today's Xbox Developer Direct showcase, Playground Games has given us our first proper look at Forza Horizon 6 - and what a first look it's turned out to be.
The team has taken us behind the scenes at its Leamington Spa studio to showcase its greatest hits rendition of open world Japan - from the dizzying mountains of its rural landscapes to downtown Tokyo and everything in between. Fans have been dreaming about this location in Forza Horizon for some time, and it's finally here.
"Forza Horizon 6 takes us to a new destination for the series – the beautiful mountains and urban spaces of Japan. It’s the team’s most impressive destination yet – breathtaking mountain vistas and passes, neon-soaked city plazas and brooding dockland strips – masterfully designed. However, the goal wasn’t to accurately recreate Japan’s roads and spaces mile for mile, but to capture the essence of the place in a smoother, condensed reality."
Condensed it may be, but this is still the largest Forza Horizon map ever, and the team says that Tokyo alone is 5x bigger than any previous city location in the series. This urban locale will be the perfect place to experience Japan's unique car culture, including its world-famous car meets which will feature in-game.
"With the aim of authentically creating a racing experience that reflects informal gatherings as well as professionally organized events, Forza Horizon 6 introduces Car Meets, a feature also grounded in Japanese car culture. These meets are inspired by the Daikoku car meet – a world-renowned, mostly spontaneous meeting place and sacred ground for car enthusiasts.
There are three locations in-game where permanent Car Meets take place. One is at the Horizon Festival, another is towards The Alps at the Okuibuki parking area, and the third is of course, at Daikoku itself. Here, players can roll up, meet other real players, check out their cars, download custom paint jobs and designs, and even purchase their own version of a car they like."
There's a lot more stuffed into Forza Horizon 6 as well, including The Estate; "a much larger piece of land" that sits alongside player houses from past games. The team says that "you can acquire and build pretty much whatever you’d like on [The Estate]." "This space is yours to expand however you wish, and it’s also deeply inspired by that same attention to Japanese culture", Playground adds.
There's lots more to dive into with this grand reveal of Forza Horizon 6, which you can take a look at in the team's big Dev Direct ViDoc up above. Alternatively, we'll also chuck a more brief teaser trailer down below, if you just want to get a taste of the action for now. Finally, we don't have to wait long at all to go hands on with the game on Xbox Series X|S and PC, with the base game landing on May 19th, and the Premium Edition granting four days of early access from May 15th. That's a big one for the first half of 2026!