Next week, Forza Horizon 6 is set to be one of the main focuses of Xbox’s upcoming Dev Direct Showcase. But thanks to an in-game leak, we don’t have to wait until then to find out when the open-world racer will launch. And thankfully, we’ll be speeding around Japan soon when Horizon 6 arrives in May.
On January 14, Xbox Infinite, an Xbox news account based in Saudi Arabia, posted a screenshot on Twitter of what it claims to be an ad for Forza Horizon 6 that popped up ahead of schedule. The ad claims that Forza Horizon 6, which was officially announced in September 2025, will be available to play four days early, on May 15, for those who pre-order the Premium Edition of the game. This implies that Horizon 6‘s actual release date is May 19. VGC reports that its sources have confirmed this release window as accurate.
“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,” reads text included in the ad. Here’s the list of what else you get for pre-ordering the Premium Edition, according to this leaked promo:
• Early Access – Play 4 days early, starting May 15
• VIP Membership
• Welcome Pack
. Car Pass
• Time Attack Car Pack
• Italian Passion Car Pack (coming post-launch)
• 2 Premium Expansions (coming post-launch)
According to Xbox Infinite, the leaked ad appeared as they were playing a different Forza game. Kotaku can’t confirm if the ad is real, but we’ve seen things like this before, and VGC corroborating the release window seems to verify this is a real leak.
It also makes sense that it popped up now, just a week before the Dev Direct event. Some wires got crossed, it seems, but we can likely expect the release date and more to be confirmed on January 22 at the showcase. Also expected at the event is Pokémon studio GameFreak’s AAA action RPG Beast of Reincarnation, as well as a deep dive into the oft-delayed Fable reboot. Forza Horizon 6 is launching on Xbox, PC, and Game Pass, with a PS5 port rumored to arrive at a later date.
