Forza Horizon 6 launched early access on May 15, 2026, for players who purchased the $119.99 Premium Edition on PC and Xbox Series X/S [1, 2]. The base edition will officially release on May 19, costing $69.99 [1].
Shortly after early access began, Forza Horizon 6 peaked between roughly 172,000 and 178,000 concurrent players on Steam, setting a new record for the series [1, 2]. SteamDB reported the high as 178,009, while other sources cited 172,093 [1, 2]. This number more than doubles Forza Horizon 5’s all-time peak of about 80,000 players seen in November 2021 [1, 2].
The Premium Edition includes two expansions, a car pass, two car packs, a welcome pack, and VIP membership for $119.99 [1, 2]. The game is set in a Japan-inspired world featuring shrines, temples, and cherry blossoms, continuing the franchise’s open-world racing style [1, 2].
Forza Horizon 6 requires over 155GB of storage on PC, making it the largest Horizon title to date [3]. It is verified to run on the Steam Deck handheld console but needs graphical quality reductions for smooth performance [3]. Playing on Steam Deck also requires a one-time Microsoft Xbox account login, as cloud saves are managed through Xbox services [3]. Battery life on the Steam Deck is about 1 hour 23 minutes while running the game, shorter than the 1 hour 37 minutes seen with Forza Horizon 5 [3].
Phil Savage of PC Gamer praised the game’s scale, saying, “There is a staggering amount to do, and an absurd number of cars to do it all in. No other racing series operates on this scale, with this much sandbox freedom” [2]. IGN called it “The new standard in open-world racing,” describing it as “a gundamn masterpiece” [1].
Official launch of the base Forza Horizon 6 game is set for May 19, 2026, on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
