Forza Horizon 6 Could Feature Japan as Its Setting, New Leak Suggests

The Forza franchise's future has been a bit uncertain since Microsoft announced widespread cuts in its Gaming division in July. It seems, however, that a new Forza Horizon game is on the cards. A recent leak has pointed to the setting of the next Forza Horizon title. According to a now deleted social media post, a Forza Horizon developer was reportedly scanning specific cars for the next entry in the arcade racing series.

Forza Horizon 6 Setting Possibly Leaked

Australian car importer Cult and Classic posted on Instagram, showing a person taking photographs of a car. According to the company, the photographer was from the Forza Horizon team, scanning Kei cars for the “net installation of the series”.

“Exciting news, we have Cody here from @forzahorizonofficial, shooting cars for the next installation in the series,” the caption on the now deleted Instagram post read (via VGC). “As there are no late-model Kei cars in America, he has flown out from the States to use our cars as the basis for their digital versions.

“We are huge gamers here at Cult and Classic, and it is an honour to be supporting Forza and making Kei cars accessible virtually for people who can't have them IRL.”

Kei cars are light motor vehicles, the smallest category of Japanese cars that are expressway legal. It's also worth noting that a large majority of existing Kei cars have been designed and made in Japan. This suggests that the next game in the series, likely Forza Horizon 6, could head to Japan.

Microsoft and Playground Games have not officially confirmed the next Forza Horizon game. Playground released Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 this year and is currently working on Fable, which is set to launch in 2026.

Forza Horizon and Forza Motorsport

The Forza Horizon series, which began as an open-world arcade racing spin-off from the Forza Motorsport racing sim series in 2012, has never visited Japan as a setting. The first Forza Horizon was set in Colorado, US. Subsequent games have featured France, Italy, Australia, Great Britain, and Mexico as open-world settings.

The Forza franchise includes Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon, but the two separate series developed by Turn 10 Studios and Playground Games, respectively, have had a contrasting year. Turn 10 bore the brunt of Xbox cuts, losing several staffers. The remaining developers from the studio were reportedly tasked with supporting the Forza Horizon series.

Meanwhile Playground Games' Forza Horizon 5 has bit a hit on PS5 after it launched on the console in April this year. The game, which was first released on Xbox and PC in November 2021, is reportedly the best-selling game on PS5 this year, with over three million copies sold.

Earlier this month, Microsoft assured fans that Turn 10 Studios and Playground Games would continue to support Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon 5. The Xbox parent, however, did not confirm if there would be another Forza Motorsport title in the future.