Forza Horizon 6: New Journey Through Japan, Built for Exploration, Culture, and More

Forza Horizon 6 launches later this year, and following today’s Developer_Direct showcase, Playground Games has provided the most extensive look yet at the next major evolution of the Horizon franchise. The studio’s Design Director, Torben Ellert, offered deeper insight into how this installment brings Japan to life, introduces new systems centered on exploration, and reimagines the Horizon player journey from the ground up.

What emerges is a fresh, ambitious reinvention of the series—one that expands on Horizon’s trademark freedom, blends culture and creativity, and places players in a beautifully stylized recreation of Japan designed not just for racing, but for discovery.

A New Beginning: Arriving in Japan as a Dreamer

Unlike previous Horizon games, where you begin as an established talent or rising star, Forza Horizon 6 casts players as tourists—dreamers landing in Japan with nothing but ambition and a desire to someday participate in the Horizon Festival.

This narrative reset creates a different emotional resonance compared with Forza Horizon 4’s competitive ascent in the UK or Horizon 5’s showcase of a veteran champion in Mexico. Here, players take their first steps on foreign soil, guided by a dream and accompanied by two friends who share that same fascination with Japanese car culture.

Ellert frames this as an experience built around discovery:

“You have this motivation to go to Japan with the Horizon Festival, but you’re only attending as a fan,” he says. “It felt right to just put you on the ground—as if you just got off the plane—with a world of opportunities in front of you.” This sense of being an outsider in a breathtaking new landscape permeates every part of Horizon 6’s structure.

Japan Reimagined: A Condensed, Beautiful Playground

For the first time in the series, Forza Horizon travels to Japan—an environment that blends towering cityscapes, serene mountain passes, neon-lit districts, docklands, and cozy suburban neighborhoods. Rather than aiming for a one-to-one recreation, Playground Games focuses on distilling the essence of Japanese geography and driving experiences into a cohesive open world.

“It’s less about accuracy and more about the feel of it,” Ellert notes. “You recreate the experience of having something revealed when you get there.”

The result is a map divided into distinct districts, each with its own character:

Tokyo Suburbs

Narrow, sloping streets weave between clusters of small homes and overhead wires—perfect for nimble city cars or drifting between corners.

Docklands

Industrial cranes, freighters, and brutalist architecture create a gritty backdrop ideal for high-speed runs and nighttime meetups.

Downtown Tokyo

Shibuya Crossing, Ginkgo Avenue, Tokyo Tower, and dense blocks of neon-infused streets form the most visually complex urban environment Playground has ever built.

Mountain Passes and The Alps

High-altitude routes offer hairpin turns, drifting potential, and dramatic views, including one of the game’s Car Meet hubs at Okuibuki.

It is the boldest, densest, most vertical world Horizon has attempted—designed for fast navigation, spectacle, and the franchise’s signature “consequence-free traversal.”

Cultural Authenticity Through Companions and Consultants

Players are joined in Japan by two key characters:

• Jordy – a motorsports enthusiast

• Mei – a skilled Japanese car builder with deep roots in local automotive culture

Mei’s insider knowledge helps contextualize the player’s journey, supported by cultural consultant Kyoko Yamashita, who ensured Horizon 6 portrays Japanese environments, traditions, and social nuances with care.

Having an in-game guide was essential, Ellert explains, because even well-researched travelers overlook cultural details without local insight. This design approach reinforces the game’s core theme: exploration through an authentic cultural lens.

The Collection Journal: Exploration with Purpose

While the iconic Horizon wristband progression returns, Forza Horizon 6 introduces a new system inspired by Japan’s stamp-collecting traditions. The Collection Journal tracks points of interest, discoveries, photographs, murals, and landmarks—turning exploration into a key pillar of gameplay progression.

“When you discover points of interest, that goes into your Journal and generates progression,” Ellert says. “It’s a visual representation of your journey.”

Players can customize their Journal with photos and notes, collecting moments that reflect their personal route through Japan. It is both a progression tool and a scrapbook of memories—a first for the franchise.

Player Homes & The Estate: Build Your Own Slice of Japan

Horizon 6 includes eight unlockable player houses across Japan, each serving as fast-travel hubs, customization points, and vehicle display spaces. But the game introduces a far more ambitious addition: The Estate.

Inspired by Japan’s Akiya—abandoned rural homes that families sometimes inherit but leave untouched—the Estate is an old property belonging to Mei’s family. Players help refurbish and expand it, creating a customizable land plot where they can build personalized structures, mountain retreats, or even full racing courses.

It is a flexible, open-ended system powered by Forza Horizon 6 credits, which are returned if players remove or redesign their builds. The Estate becomes not just a home, but a meaningful reflection of a player’s journey through Japan’s culture of restoration and community.

Car Meets: Capturing Japan’s Social Automotive Spirit

To authentically represent Japanese car culture, Playground introduces Car Meets, inspired by the legendary Daikoku Parking Area gatherings. These locations function as social hubs where players can:

• Meet other players

• Show off custom designs

• Purchase cars directly

• Download paint jobs and liveries

• Socialize and explore casually

There are three permanent Car Meet locations:

1. The Horizon Festival

2. Okuibuki in The Alps

3. Daikoku – the beating heart of real-world Japanese meet culture

These spaces add an organic communal layer to Horizon 6, bridging informal gatherings with the larger festival experience.

A Massive Car Roster and Two Stunning Cover Cars

Forza Horizon 6 launches with approximately 550 cars, including two headlining cover cars:

• 2025 GR GT Prototype

• 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser

These vehicles appear throughout the game, including in the cinematic Initial Experience, where players temporarily get behind the wheel of the GR GT Prototype—racing bullet trains, navigating mountain trails, and experiencing aspirational thrills before being thrust back into the role of a newcomer.

The art direction for Horizon 6’s key visuals draws from Sumi-E ink painting and the contrasts of Japanese design, created in collaboration with Toyota and a Master Artist to ensure accuracy and authenticity.

A Celebration of Cars, Freedom, and Community

Ellert emphasizes that while Horizon showcases exotic performance machines, its heart lies in the universal role cars play in everyday life.

“They are often the most expensive things many of us will own,” he says. “They’re associated with freedom and the ability to go wherever you want.”

That philosophy anchors Horizon 6’s identity: freedom, fun, beauty, and community, all wrapped in a world built to be explored with friends.

Launch Details

Forza Horizon 6 releases May 19 on:

• Xbox Series X|S

• PC via Xbox and Steam

• Xbox Cloud Gaming

• Game Pass Ultimate

It will also arrive on PlayStation 5 later in 2026. Pre-orders are available now, and Premium Edition Early Access begins May 15.

MMOexp Forza Horizon 6 Team