FORZA HORIZON 6 GOES FULL NEON DREAM, AND JAPAN IS FINALLY ON THE MAP - BIG TIME!
Ever since Playground Games dropped the bomb in September 2025 that Forza Horizon 6 would be heading to Japan, the fanbase has been vibrating like a high-strung 2JZ on launch control. Now, during Xbox’s Developer Direct, the curtain finally lifted just enough to let the light in - and what we saw was worth the wait. Front and centre on the newly revealed cover art are two icons from the same bloodline: the futuristic GR GT and the unstoppable 250-series Toyota Land Cruiser. It’s a Forza first - a Horizon cover starring vehicles from a single parent automaker, and so Toyota Motor Corporation is understandably buzzing. One car represents the razor edge of Gazoo Racing’s motorsport obsession, the other a legend forged in dust, rock and reputation. On-road and off-road, past and future, united under the rising sun. The Developer Direct didn’t stop at cover art either. Playground Games confirmed that Forza Horizon 6 launches on May 19, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PC, Xbox Cloud, Steam and day one on Game Pass Ultimate. Premium Edition players can jump in early on May 15, while PlayStation players will also get their turn later in the year.
The Horizon Festival has always been about beautiful cars, iconic music and locations that make you want to keep driving long after the credits should have rolled. With Horizon 6, the team is finally ticking off a destination they’ve wanted to visit for a very long time: Japan. And it shows.
This is the biggest Horizon map yet, built around contrast. Rural meets urban. Ancient traditions brush shoulders with glowing skylines. There’s real verticality here too, with diverse biomes, changing seasons and roads that feel purpose-built for driving. From city streets inspired by the C1 loop and Gingko Avenue to legendary mountain passes like Mt. Haruna and Bandai Azuma, this is Japan as petrolheads have imagined it for years.
Urban fans are in for a treat as well. Tokyo City is the largest city ever featured in a Horizon game, clocking in at five times the size of Guanajuato from Forza Horizon 5. Multiple districts give the city a living, breathing identity; suburbs, neon-soaked downtown streets, docks and industrial zones all stitched together into one sprawling playground. At launch, there will be more than 550 cars to collect and customise. Customisation itself has levelled up, with updated Forza Aero, the long-requested ability to paint liveries on windows, and body kits for select vehicles. The car roster has been fully rebalanced across performance classes, including the introduction of the new R Class, built specifically for track-focused machines.
Cars now respond visually to the world around them, too. New cosmetic tyre wear reflects the miles you rack up, while updated steering animations deliver up to 540 degrees of wheel rotation, adding another layer of authenticity. Forza Edition cars return as well, this time wearing extreme modifications that make each one feel properly special. Exploration brings rewards beyond the festival itself. As you roam Japan’s roads, you’ll stumble across Aftermarket Cars parked on driveways, waiting to be discovered. You can test drive them or add them to your collection, often at affordable prices, with some genuinely rare gems hiding in plain sight. Sound has had a serious glow-up too. Engines roar with remastered audio, surfaces talk back with greater detail, and new acoustic modelling technology simulates the soundscape of the world itself, making every tunnel blast and mountain climb hit harder than ever.
And while Forza Horizon 6 is a love letter to classic JDM, it’s just as focused on the future. The cover car says it all: the 2025 GR GT Prototype, a race-derived road car that blends motorsport performance with road-going precision. It’s the purest expression yet of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s relentless pursuit of engineering perfection - and there may be no better place to experience it than tearing through a digital Japan at full noise.
Take a look at the YouTube video from the reveal of all this new JDM goodness that's going to completely reinvigorate the gameplay and fun in the latest edition of Forza coming up this year: Forza Horizon 6 - Cover Car Reveal | 2025 GR GT | Forza
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