Forza Horizon 6 release date may have leaked in Forza Horizon 5

Italian sports car maker Ferrari displays the new vehicle Ferrari J50 at the world premiere in Tokyo on December 13, 2016 to celebrate Ferrari's 50th anniversary in Japan. Ferrari J50 has 690-horsepower 3.9-litter V8 turbo charged engine to drive roadster body. (Photo by YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) — This isn't an image from Forza Horizon 6, by the way. It's a photo of an actual Ferrari J50. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Forza Horizon 6 is one of the games slated to appear in next week's Xbox Direct showcase, but the release date may have slipped out a little bit earlier than planned. And for that, you can thank Forza Horizon 5.

The four-day early access date of May 15 appeared in a preorder pop-up shared by XBOXF10 on X (via Wario64), which offers an "exclusive Ferrari J50" for anyone willing to put down their money in advance.

Forza Horizon 6 is releasing on May 19th (or May 15th for Premium Edition Early Access) according to a pop-up in Forza Horizon 5 xboxera.com/2026/01/14/f...
— @wario64.bsky.social (@wario64.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-01-14T20:37:28.914Z

"Discover the breathtaking landscapes of Japan in over 550 real-world cars and become a racing Legend in Forza Horizon's biggest open world driving adventure yet," it promises. There's also an exhortation to spring for the premium edition of the game, which includes:

Four-day early access begin on May 14
VIP membership
Welcome Pack
Car Pass
Time Attack Car Pack
Italian Passion Car (post-launch)
Two premium expansions (post-launch)

Is it legit? We know Forza Horizon 6 is coming in 2026—the Steam page says so—but there's some question about this specific date. X user XBOXF10, who initially shared the image, said it appeared when they left the garage but before they started taking delivery of their car, but we (which is to say, PC Gamer news writer Lincoln Carpenter, who I bullied into helping) weren't able to duplicate the results. Numerous other sites, including Polygon, The Verge, and Xbox Era have also tried and failed to make the message appear.

It's possible Microsoft realized it was spilling beans and pulled the message, and it's possible XBOXF10 is just having some fun with us. For what it's worth, XBOXF10 said they were unable to make the message appear when they tried to bring it back.

A quick glance at my calendar tells me the truth will likely be revealed in eight days—that's January 22, when the Xbox Direct showcase rolls. Forza Horizon 6 will be there, as will Fable and Beast of Reincarnation. Some Elder Scrolls fans are twisting themselves into hopeful contortions that The Elder Scrolls 6 will make a surprise appearance too.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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