Forza Horizon 6 leak threatens Xbox upcoming racing game

Everyone makes mistakes, but Xbox’s Playground Games has made an error so costly that it could potentially affect the debut of the developer’s upcoming racing game, Forza Horizon 6.

Set to launch on May 19, Forza Horizon 6 is a multiplayer racing-sim franchise that has long been an Xbox staple. The newest entry is set in Japan, meaning players will race past iconic landmarks like the Shibuya Crossing, Ginkgo Avenue, and Tokyo Tower. It also promises features like Horizon Rush, a new event type where players can show off their skills on obstacle courses, as well as updated car and environment sounds. All in all, Forza Horizon 6 looked as though it was shaping up to be one of Playground Games’ biggest launches.

However, that launch is now in jeopardy. As spotted on gaming and piracy subreddits, it seems that someone at Microsoft may have uploaded the PC version of Forza Horizon 6’s preload files to the Steam storefront without first encrypting them. Around 155 GB of content, reportedly including thousands of assets, was snatched by eager users and, as predicted, shared across multiple piracy sites. At the time of writing, these files have been re-encrypted, but the damage appears to already be done.

It’s certainly not the first time a video game has had sensitive information and material leaked online — IO Interactive’s James Bond origin story, 007: First Light, had its ending leaked earlier this year. Still, the leak must sting for gamers who have pre-ordered Forza Horizon 6’s Premium Bundle, which grants them four days of early access to the game.

We doubt that this error will stop Forza Horizon 6 from being just as successful as its predecessors, but leaks can and often do affect the profitability of publishers and developers. How badly it will do so for Playground Games and Xbox remains to be seen.

Forza Horizon 6 debuts in full on May 19 for Windows PC and Xbox Series X. A PlayStation 5 version is set to release sometime later this year.