The long-anticipated announcement of Forza Horizon 6 was undoubtedly the highlight of Xbox's Tokyo Game Show 2025 Broadcast. As fans had long speculated (and industry insiders had recently suggested), the next setting will be Japan. In an interview published on the Xbox Wire blog, Playground Games Art Director Don Arceta teased that the open world of Forza Horizon 6 will blow away players with its beauty and variety.
While we’re not announcing too much in terms of detail right now, we’re excited to show fans the true breadth of beauty – both natural and urban environments – that Japan has to offer. From the neon lights and towering buildings of Tokyo City – one of our most detailed and layered environments to date – to the serenity and natural beauty of Japan’s rural and mountain areas, we think players will be blown away by the open world of Japan that we have built. And while we are not necessarily trying to recreate Japan and its environments like for like, our goal has always been to capture the country’s unique cultural essence and present it back in the most Horizon way possible.
The Seasons system that was introduced initially with Forza Horizon 4 will return in Forza Horizon 6, as confirmed by Cultural Consultant Kyoko Yamashita:
The team has also been able to build a system where seasonal changes truly inform the world – how spring, summer, autumn, and winter subtly shift tone, activity, and sound. The team is also really proud of the attention to everyday details: ambient audio like station chimes or summer wind bells that instantly place you without a caption. Those are quiet choices, but they carry a lot of truth.
More information about Forza Horizon 6 will be released in early 2026. The game will launch next year on PC and Xbox consoles first, with a PlayStation 5 version already confirmed to be coming at a later date.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
