Forza Horizon 6 leaks online a week before launch, Microsoft starts banning players

[Shawn Knight]

Oops: The sixth game in the popular Forza Horizon racing series has leaked online more than a week before its official launch date. The racer is due out on May 19 for the general public and May 15 for buyers of the premium edition but according to reports, the game has been cracked and is readily available online for PC if you know where to look.

Update (May 11, 4pm): Users report that Microsoft and Playground Games have started issuing bans to players who accessed the leaked Forza Horizon 6 build before launch, with reports ranging from Xbox account suspensions to permanent hardware bans tied to affected PCs. The studio says the leak was not caused by a Steam preload issue, despite widespread claims that unencrypted files briefly became accessible online.

– Playground Games (@WeArePlayground) May 11, 2026

The original report follows below:

According to VGC, it is believed that a developer uploaded a copy of the game to Steam's backend over the weekend but did so without any encryption. This allowed a third party to intercept the files and subsequently crack the game, leading to the current situation.

VGA said they had seen the game available on select websites but didn't download it and thus can't verify its validity. But considering how many screenshots and videos featuring the game have popped up on social media over the past 24 hours, it is likely the real deal.

Forza Horizon 6 is a major release for Microsoft and they are no doubt furious that the game has been made public early. In their early look, VGC said that if the rest of the game looks as good as the small section they have played thus far, it could potentially be one of the year's best games.

"At this stage, everything's on track to give Forza Horizon 5 a run for its money and take over pole position as the best open-world racing game around," the site said.

Microsoft introduced Forza Horizon in 2012 and put out new installments every other year through the first four games. The pace has slowed a bit since 2018, with Forza Horizon 5 having launched in 2021 on most major platforms including the PS5. The new game is set in Japan, the first time the series has used that locale.

The leak takes the momentum out of Microsoft's sails and will certainly result in fewer retail sales. The standard version is priced at $69.99, a deluxe edition is set at $99.99, and a premium version commands $119.99. Higher-priced variants unlock the game a few days early on May 15.

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Forza Horizon 6 leaks online a week before launch, Microsoft starts banning players

 

[The Talking Tech]

I hate to say it but this is grounds for a damages lawsuit.

Microsoft has the well deserved right to go after Steam for this monumental f@ck-up.

 

[Notmare]

Mistakes like this happen when you lay off everyone who previously held that knowledge.

 

[Nobina]

I would have never guessed what the game would be like if it wasn't for this horrible leak (it is exactly the same as the previous 3 FH games).

 

[yRaz]

I hate to say it but this is grounds for a damages lawsuit.

Microsoft has the well deserved right to go after Steam for this monumental f@ck-up.

The developers ****ed up so they will sue someone else who had nothing to do with it? Sounds like corporate America to me.

 

[The Talking Tech]

The developers ****ed up so they will sue someone else who had nothing to do with it? Sounds like corporate America to me.

It's very corporate America to be hold accountable as an entity for what the mistakes your employees make.

Just imagine if we couldn't hold companies accountable.

 

[yRaz]

It's very corporate America to be hold accountable as an entity for what the mistakes your employees makes.

Just imagine if we couldn't hold companies accountable.

In the US, we don't. And the developers uploaded the game to a steam service where the games are supposed to be encrypted. Other developers don't seem to have a problem uploading encrypted games to steam, so why is steam at fault?

 

[The Talking Tech]

I would have never guessed what the game would be like if it wasn't for this horrible leak (it is exactly the same as the previous 3 FH games).

What did you expect? An opened World Racing game to turn into a flying simulator? Or perhaps a 4-4 fighting game?

It seems some people don't really know what the meaning of a sequel is.....we need more dictionaries available at their communities.

 

[Lionvibez]

And everyone using the leaked copies are getting hardware bans.

You have to change motherboards if you got banned and want to play the game again.

 

[The Talking Tech]

In the US, we don't. And the developers uploaded the game to a steam service where the games are supposed to be encrypted. Other developers don't seem to have a problem uploading encrypted games to steam, so why is steam at fault?

Because Steam was the source of the leak.....simple as that.....just imagine you bring your children to school but the school personnel by mistake let them run without supervision into the streets?... who is at fault?

Steam's job was simple...safeguard the product until release date, they done it millions of times so it's nothing new for them to do.

 

[yRaz]

Because Steam was the source of the leak.....simple as that.....just imagine you bring your children to school but the school personnel by mistake let them run without supervision into the streets?... who is at fault?

Steam's job was simple...safeguard the product until release date, they done it millions of times so it's nothing new for them to do.

The source of the leak was the ***** uploading it to somewhere unencrypted. IIRC, this is where steam stores games for them to be preloaded and then encrypted at the time if release. Not only did the employee upload it unencrypted, but it looks like they did so without any DRM to protect

 

[The Talking Tech]

The source of the leak was the ***** uploading it to somewhere unencrypted. IIRC, this is where steam stores games for them to be preloaded and then encrypted at the time if release. Not only did the employee upload it unencrypted, but it looks like they did so without any DRM to protect

Someone for sure is getting rammed because of it. Meanwhile Microsoft should rush the release ASAP.

 

[Hecate91]

Because Steam was the source of the leak.....simple as that.....just imagine you bring your children to school but the school personnel by mistake let them run without supervision into the streets?... who is at fault?

Steam's job was simple...safeguard the product until release date, they done it millions of times so it's nothing new for them to do.

Steam is a game platform, they aren't responsible for what the publisher does. Microsoft and the publisher decided to hand the game to Valve without encryption.

 

[LordVile95]

Do hope it’s better than 5, it was a massive disappointment coming from 4.

 

[Billybobjoey]

Sounds like it won't be a very good Monday over at Playground Games today. Something similar actually happened to the new Lego batman over the weekend as well, apparently if you preordered a digital Xbox code from certain retailers the release date was not set up properly on those, and as a result people were able to boot it up and start playing. It's been "fixed" now, but I imagine if you flipped your Xbox over to offline mode before that then you can keep playing, and that one's even further out from release than Forza.

 

[The Talking Tech]

Steam is a game platform, they aren't responsible for what the publisher does. Microsoft and the publisher decided to hand the game to Valve without encryption.

Who do you think is responsible in keeping the game safeguarded until encryption happens?

This is not Steam's first rodeo in handling games no matter the developer but this time around someone messed up in a monumental way.

 

[themastergoose]

Why are a lot of people here blaming Valve. It wasn't Valve who uploaded the game files to Steam's distribution system. It was the developer or publisher who made the mistake right?

 

[Nobina]

What did you expect? An opened World Racing game to turn into a flying simulator? Or perhaps a 4-4 fighting game?

Some people really don't know what a sequel is.....we need to have more dictionaries available at their communities.

So you think a game doesn't have room for improvement or new ideas just because it's a sequel?

Is "opened World Racing game" something from your dictionary? LMAO!

 

[The Talking Tech]

So you think a game doesn't have room for improvement or new ideas just because it's a sequel?

Is "opened World Racing game" something from your dictionary? LMAO!

If the improvements on each game hasn't been enough for you, perhaps the vastly popular "Opened World Racing game" Forza Horizon is not for you.

 

[Nobina]

If the improvements on each game hasn't been enough for you, perhaps the vastly popular "Opened World Racing game" Forza Horizon is not for you.

There have been cases where developers unburdened by intelligence have said the same thing to their fanbase and it didn't turn out well for them. Maybe they should hire you, you'll fit right in!

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Who do you think is responsible in keeping the game safeguarded until encryption happens?

This is not Steam's first rodeo in handling games no matter the developer but this time around someone messed up in a monumental way.

Encryption happens BEFORE you upload the files to Steam. This isn't Valves fault.

You should take this guys advice:

It seems some people don't really know what the meaning of a sequel is.....we need more dictionaries available at their communities.

Just replace "sequel" with " accountability".

 

[NumberNine]

This is the kinda game I want to play online with other people so an offline copy is useless to me.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

Almost every day my daughter keeps telling me, "You need to get me Foraz 6."

Yeah, no. I'm already paying a good chunk of change so she can experience the real life thing of being behind the wheel of a Lamborghini and Ferrari for her 18th bday - though she's debating if she wants to drive or have an experienced driver take her around the track in these cars.

Ever since she saw the movies Cars when she was about 4, she's been hooked on cars ever since. Racing games, car shows (any thing from old to new, that isn't electric), books on cars and so on.

Get her Forza 6....yeah right, I'm tapped. No more monies for things.

 

[Burty117]

Who do you think is responsible in keeping the game safeguarded until encryption happens?

This is not Steam's first rodeo in handling games no matter the developer but this time around someone messed up in a monumental way.

I've never seen anyone be soo confidently wrong in the comments to this extent, incredible work sir!

I'm all for playing "devils advocate" but even I struggle to see anything Valve has done wrong here.

 

[Julio Franco]

Update (May 11, 4pm): Users report that Microsoft and Playground Games have started issuing bans to players who accessed the leaked Forza Horizon 6 build before launch, with reports ranging from Xbox account suspensions to permanent hardware bans tied to affected PCs. The studio says the leak was not caused by a Steam preload issue, despite widespread claims that unencrypted files briefly became accessible online.