Just days before it was scheduled to release, Forza Horizon 6 on PC has leaked. Reports have begun circulating online of the entire game being uploaded online as an unencrypted Steam preload, with various piracy websites moving quickly to make the entire 155GB file available to download via torrents.
How did this happen? It’s speculated that the Forza Horizon 6 preload is the culprit here, as in the buildup to the game’s release so that players can start touring Japan as soon as possible, Steam may have accidentally pushed a decryption update for the game files too early. Microsoft isn’t sitting idly by while one of its biggest releases of the year is pirated, and it has already begun making moves with takedown notices on various sites.
It also remains to be seen just how playable the game is in offline mode, and these pirated versions will naturally be excluded from post-launch plans. To put this into perspective, Forza Horizon 5 is estimated to have sold between 7.2 million and 8.4 million units on Steam (according to Sensor Tower data), so pre-launch piracy will most certainly take a large bite out of any potential sales.
Official unlock times for Forza Horizon 6 have not yet been officially revealed, but preorder sales on Steam have been strong ahead of launch. At the time of writing, it’s currently the second-best-selling game on Steam.
Forza Horizon 6 is currently scheduled to launch in early access on May 15 for anyone who purchases the Premium Edition or the Premium Add-On Bundle for the Standard Edition, and May 19 for its regular version. The game will also be available on Xbox Series X|S consoles and other PC storefronts, but Steam is expected to be a major driver for sales.
One thing that can’t be pirated? The official Forza Horizon 6 controller and headset. For anyone who’s not a fan of garish neon-soaked colors, that might be a good thing, but the visually loud accessories do have their fans.
