Oops! Microsoft possibly just leaked Xbox's Forza Horizon 6 release date with an in-game pop-up — here's when the big open-world racer might come out

One of Microsoft's biggest first-party Xbox franchises is the racing series Forza, with its publishing wing Xbox Game Studios releasing both the competitive sim racer Forza Motorsport and the open-world arcade-style title Forza Horizon.

Forza Horizon 6, Playground Games' next entry in the latter subseries that's coming to Xbox and PC later this year (and PS5 at some point after that), is scheduled to get a deep dive at the upcoming Xbox Developer Direct showcase on January 22. This is also when it's expected that Microsoft will reveal the title's official release date — but notably, a new leak may have just spoiled that detail entirely.

That leak comes from a post on X (Twitter) made by a fan who supposedly encountered a pop-up in Forza Horizon 5 advertising the sequel. It directly mentions a Premium Edition, and says that by preordering it, you'll get access to Forza Horizon 6 four days early on May 15, strongly implying a May 19, 2026 release date for the standard edition of the title.

The message also says that the Premium Edition will net you a Forza Horizon 6 VIP Membership (in Forza Horizon 5, this gave you exclusive cars, credit boosts, access to special events, and more), a Welcome Pack, the game's Car Pass, a Time Attack Car Pack, an Italian Passion Car Pack coming post-launch, and two DLC expansions coming down the line.

It also notes that all Forza Horizon 6 preorders will be rewarded with "a pre-tuned and exclusive" Ferrari J50 at launch, and that the game itself will feature over 550 cars to "discover the breathtaking landscapes of Japan" with in "Forza Horizon's biggest open-world driving adventure yet."

The pop-up looks quite official and very real, so there's a strong likelihood that it's not fake. With that said, it's entirely possible that it is fake, so take this information with a grain of salt as you would with any other leak.

The player that posted the screenshot says that "It appeared when I left the garage and before I started taking delivery of my car," but "did not appear when I tried again." The Windows Central team hasn't been able to get the pop-up to appear in Forza Horizon 5 either, suggesting that — assuming it's real — it was intended to go live in-game after Forza Horizon 6 was shown at Developer Direct, but erroneously appeared in this fan's game due to a glitch.

Again, assuming this launch day isn't fake, this leak has spoiled one of the biggest surprises that Xbox and Playground Games had to share during the Developer Direct presentation. Still, the news that it's coming in May will no doubt make many players very happy, as some believed it wouldn't release until the later months of 2026.

If it's received well, Forza Horizon 6 is expected to perform exceptionally well for Microsoft and Xbox as Forza Horizon 5 has. Since its release in 2021, the predecessor has sold incredibly well, stands as one of the most popular Xbox Game Pass titles, and was even the best-selling game on PS5 in 2025 — at least until Battlefield 6 showed up.

Like Forza Horizon 5 and all other first-party releases from Xbox, Forza Horizon 6 will be available to play on Xbox and PC through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on day one, with the game potentially coming to other tiers of the service later.

Do you believe this Forza Horizon 6 release date leak is real, or do you think it's fake? Are you excited to jump into Playground Games' next open-world racer? Let me know in the comments.

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