Forza Horizon 6 is out now for people who pay extra ahead of its wider release on May 19, and one thing fans have noticed right off the bat is that they cannot destroy cherry blossom trees. This is notable because almost all other trees in the game can be smashed.
Design director Torben Ellert explained to Japan Times that this was a deliberate decision done to honor cultural traditions in Japan, which is where the game takes place.
“Almost all trees in the game are smashable to ensure that traversing the world map is both fun and rewarding. However, several tree types are not, for example, the cherry blossom trees, because they’re an iconic element of Japanese culture,” Ellert said.
Additionally, players cannot crash through temples or other locations of “cultural importance,” he said.
Cherry blossom trees in Japan are revered and respected as the embodiment of beauty and mortality. When they bloom in mid-March, they attract huge crowds in major cities like Tokyo and attract international tourists while they are in full bloom for a short period of time.
In 2025, Forza Horizon 6 developer Playground said it visited Japan to conduct research. The company also worked with a cultural consultant, Kyoko Yamashita, who helped guide the team, which is based in the UK, during development.
“Japan is widely loved, but it can also be widely misread when you only see it from afar,” Yamashita said. “The team wanted to present more than a postcard or a backdrop; they wanted a lived-in world. Having a cultural consultant early helps you make a thousand small, respectful decisions: how neighborhoods sound, even what a sign color communicates about a shop. Those small choices add up to credibility and help avoid stereotypes, while also making it a truly immersive experience for players.”
Another game set in Japan (albeit in the 16th century), Assassin’s Creed Shadows, caught some flak for allowing people to destroy items in the game’s shrines and injure monks so that they bleed. A post-release update made certain objects indestructible and prevented monks from bleeding. This came after Japan’s Prime Minister spoke out, saying, “Defacing a shrine is out of the question–it is an insult to the nation itself.”
Forza Horizon 6 is currently available for people who buy the $120 premium edition or those who pay $60 more for the premium edition upgrade bundle (and this includes Game Pass members who just can’t wait). The standard $70 edition unlocks on May 19, which is also when Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members can jump in. Despite the cost of entry now during the early-release period, Forza Horizon 6 clocked more than 165,000 peak concurrent players on Steam and ranks as the platform’s No. 2 best-selling game overall in the US, only behind Subnautica 2.
Forza Horizon 6 is available now for Xbox and PC, and a PS5 version is coming later this year. For more, check out GameSpot’s Forza Horizon 6 review.
