Forza Horizon 6 burst onto the scene during Xbox Developer Direct last month with an impressive showing, which is nothing less than we expected given the series' history. It was a lengthy deep dive on the Horizon Festival's first Japanese outing, and as a follow-up, the team at Playground Games has rounded up "10 incredible new features" that were first debuted during that showcase.
So, as a little reminder of everything coming to Forza Horizon 6 this May, we're going to share the team's list of brand-new features down below - and remember, you can go hands on with the next Forza game as early as May 15th, if you're willing to pay for early access.
#1 World Famous Japanese Landmarks
"As you already know, Forza Horizon 6 takes the Horizon Festival to the breathtaking landscapes of Japan! Tokyo City's iconic downtown area is home to iconic landmarks like Shibuya Crossing, Ginko Avenue and Tokyo Tower. You'll also get to drive on roads inspired by the C1 loop, as well as iconic mountain passes like Mt. Haruna and Bandai Azuma."
#2 Alpine Snow All Year-Round
"Seasons return to Forza Horizon 6 with more dramatic variation than seen in Mexico. Each season is authentically represented and distinctly different – from the changing visuals of landscapes, crops, foliage and weather to the unique and subtle soundscapes, ensuring every season carries its own feel, beauty, and personality. What's more, regardless of the current season, you can throw on some snow-tires and enjoy snow year-round in Japan's mountainous Alpine region!"
#3 Master the Obstacle Course Run
"Horizon Rush is a new event type the Horizon Festival is introducing to Japan. These events invite you to show off your skills on thrilling obstacle courses, featuring exciting locations such as Tokyo City Docks. With the return of Wristbands in Forza Horizon 6, you will need to unlock and complete each Horizon Rush event to level up and progress closer towards becoming a Horizon Legend."
#4 Meetups for Every Car Enthusiast
"Japan has a bunch of locations for you and your friends to meet up at. These include Time Attack Circuits, Car Meets, and Drag Meets, and all of them are integrated into the Shared Open World. This means that you can drive past any of these meetups, see real live players, and join them instantly without any loading screens to slow you down. Car Meets are places where you can show off your cars and characters, download tunes and liveries, and even buy a copy of the incredible cars that you see."
#5 Build Your Life in Japan
"In Forza Horizon 6, you'll have new ways to shape the world as you make a life for yourself in Japan. These include Customizable Garages, where you can freely decorate the entire space and create a showroom for your automotive collection, and The Estate, where you can build and decorate directly in the open world. You can also invite your friends to visit, and you can even download garage layouts that have been shared by the community."
#6 Discover Rare Aftermarket Cars
"Parked around the game world are Aftermarket Cars, which you can test drive or add to your collection. These cars are often offered at a discount, and they include some extremely rare and unique models to show off in your garage."
#7 Better Racing with Car Proximity Radar
"Forza Horizon 6 introduces Car Proximity Radar as a new option that, when enabled, provides additional awareness while racing. This Proximity Radar helps identify cars in your blind spots, making it easier to avoid unintentional collisions and keep the racing clean, especially when using cockpit, hood, or bumper cameras."
#8 Updated Car and Environment Sounds
"Cars in Forza Horizon 6 sound better than ever, with new recordings, remastered audio and upgraded modular systems including turbo and backfires. The driving experience is enhanced with more detailed surface interaction and improved cockpit impulse responses. This is all brought to life by new acoustic modeling technology, simulating the soundscape of the world.
We're also introducing Triton Acoustics, which is an object-based spatial reverb system. It simulates real world acoustics by generating reverb signals from the virtual positions of objects within the game. To complement the visual contrast throughout the environment, we've captured extensive field recordings across all four seasons in Japan, creating a rich and truly authentic world for you to experience."
#9 New Cars, New Customization Options
"Forza Horizon 6 introduces updated Forza Aero and the very much requested ability to paint liveries on windows! In addition, we have also added new rims, and you can now install different rims on the front and rear of your cars. What's more, cars are now also affected by the world around them. New cosmetic tire wear means each car responds authentically as you rack up the miles on those iconic Japanese roads."
#10 Enhanced Steering Wheel Animations
"Cars in Forza Horizon 6 feature updated steering animations with up to 540 degrees of wheel rotation. Enjoy the immersion when using cockpit camera as you explore Japan!"
Playground closes out its big FH6 Dev Direct summary by reminding folks that the upcoming title will be Xbox Play Anywhere on release, it'll support cross-save across all platforms, and it'll be fully playable on ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X at launch.