After tours across France, England, and Mexico, Forza Horizon 6 is reportedly shifting the series over to Japan for its next slice of car racing action. According to several leaks–and at least one now-deleted Instagram post hinting at it–the next chapter is set to be revealed next month at the Tokyo Game Show.
That’s according to prolific leaker NateTheHate, and Windows Central has backed up this report by claiming that it has seen documentation “suggesting” Forza Horizon 6 will be officially shown off during the annual gaming event.
Earlier this month, an Australian car import company uploaded an Instagram post showing off a Playground Games employee digitally scanning a rare compact Japanese car, adding more fuel to the fire when the post mentioned that it was for a new Forza Horizon game. The Tokyo Game Show takes place September 25-28, and Microsoft has in the past held dedicated showcases during the event.
Forza Horizon 5 launched back in 2021, and it saw the game’s titular festival move to Mexico and it was the best-selling game on PS5 this year, per gaming analyst Alinea. The game was well-reviewed and featured hundreds of vehicles to collect with frequent content updates, eventually reaching 50 million players across all platforms.
Recently, the cadence of those updates has slowed down, leading many to suspect that developer Playground Games was gearing up for a sequel, in addition to its work on the next Fable game. Japan has been a frequently requested location for a Forza Horizon game to take place in, as the country has a rich history and appreciation for car culture, car meets, and an infamous underground racing scene.
The rumors come after numerous layoffs and the cancellation of several games at Microsoft’s game studios, and Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 was hit particularly bad with reportedly 50% of its staff affected. The studio says that it still plans to support the more-realistic counterpart to Forza Horizon, with several events for the game having already kicked off recently.
