Forza Horizon 6 release date may have leaked in Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 6 is one of the games slated to appear in next week's Xbox Direct showcase, but the release date may have slipped out a little bit earlier than planned. And for that, you can thank Forza Horizon 5.

The four-day early access date of May 15 appeared in a preorder pop-up shared by XBOXF10 on X (via Wario64), which offers an "exclusive Ferrari J50" for anyone willing to put down their money in advance.

Forza Horizon 6 is releasing on May 19th (or May 15th for Premium Edition Early Access) according to a pop-up in Forza Horizon 5 xboxera.com/2026/01/14/f...

— @wario64.bsky.social (@wario64.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-01-14T20:37:28.914Z

"Discover the breathtaking landscapes of Japan in over 550 real-world cars and become a racing Legend in Forza Horizon's biggest open world driving adventure yet," it promises. There's also an exhortation to spring for the premium edition of the game, which includes:

• Four-day early access begin on May 14
• VIP membership
• Welcome Pack
• Car Pass
• Time Attack Car Pack
• Italian Passion Car (post-launch)
• Two premium expansions (post-launch)

Is it legit? We know Forza Horizon 6 is coming in 2026—the Steam page says so—but there's some question about this specific date. X user XBOXF10, who initially shared the image, said it appeared when they left the garage but before they started taking delivery of their car, but we (which is to say, PC Gamer news writer Lincoln Carpenter, who I bullied into helping) weren't able to duplicate the results. Numerous other sites, including Polygon, The Verge, and Xbox Era have also tried and failed to make the message appear.

It's possible Microsoft realized it was spilling beans and pulled the message, and it's possible XBOXF10 is just having some fun with us. For what it's worth, XBOXF10 said they were unable to make the message appear when they tried to bring it back.

A quick glance at my calendar tells me the truth will likely be revealed in eight days—that's January 22, when the Xbox Direct showcase rolls. Forza Horizon 6 will be there, as will Fable and Beast of Reincarnation. Some Elder Scrolls fans are twisting themselves into hopeful contortions that The Elder Scrolls 6 will make a surprise appearance too.