Like so many other big AAA video games these days, Forza Horizon 6 offers up a way to pay more to play a few days early. But this time around, Xbox is charging even more than usual, and that’s true even for the brand’s biggest fans who are already subscribed to Game Pass Ultimate.
On January 22, during Xbox’s latest Developer Direct, Playground Games did a big deep dive into the upcoming open-world racer Forza Horizon 6 and also revealed the game’s release date. And with that reveal came the ability to start pre-ordering the game and its various editions. As has become commonplace, the most expensive version of Forza Horizon 6, its Premium Edition, includes four days of “early access” to the game ahead of its May 19 launch on PC and Xbox. However, what caught many people off guard is that Forza Horizon 6′s Premium package costs $120 USD, or $20 more than 2021’s Horizon 5‘s $100 equivalent Premium edition. And Game Pass Ultimate subscribers who want to play early have to pay $60 to upgrade to that fancier version. In the past, Xbox charged subscribers only $50 to upgrade.
You can explain some of this increase with the fact that Horizon 6 is a $70 game compared to Horizon 5‘s $60 price tag. But it still seems wild that Xbox is asking its most dedicated fans, the ones who are still subscribed to Game Pass Ultimate and playing on an Xbox console, to essentially pay the price of a full video game if they want to play Forza Horizon 6 “early.”
And let’s be clear here: As I’ve explained before, you aren’t playing the game “early.” Xbox and other publishers are simply barring access to the game unless you pay extra, and essentially holding it for ransom. When Forza Horizon 6 launches “four days early” for Premium owners on May 15, it will still have gone through all the same checks, testing, and Q&A that any other game has to go through to launch on a console. At that point, it has launched. And yet, unless you give Xbox a bit more flesh, you don’t get to play it for a few days. Even if you’ve been a loyal Game Pass subscriber for years. Sorry, back of the line. It’s all silly, and the fact that so many gamers support this early access tax and ransom fee is the exact reason Xbox is convinced it can charge even more.
Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that the promise of Game Pass was day one access to every first-party Xbox game. That’s not been the case for a bit now, but this price increase for Horizon 6 is a stark reminder that ship has sailed, been sunk, buried, and totally forgotten by the people in charge at Xbox. But hey, at least Horizon 6‘s Premium edition includes an extra car pack compared to Horizon 5‘s offering. So that’s…something, I guess.
Forza Horizon 6 launches on Xbox Series X/S and PC on May 19. Those who pay the tax get it early on May 15. It will launch on PS5 later this year.