Forza Horizon 6 | Release Date
Forza Horizon 6 Release Date - Forza Horizon 6 officially launches on May 19, 2026 for Xbox Series X|S and PC, with Premium Edition Early Access starting May 15, 2026. A PS5 version is confirmed, but its exact date is still not announced beyond “later in 2026.”
Official launch date (and Early Access date)
This entry moves the Horizon Festival to Japan (with Playground Games highlighting Japanese landscapes and car culture), and the reveal also called out the cover cars: the 2025 GR GT Prototype and the 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser.
Release time (unlock schedule) on Xbox, Xbox App, and Steam
On Xbox consoles and the Xbox app on PC, the unlock is designed to behave like a “midnight launch” by region: the game goes live at 12:01 AM local time, with a common US quirk where Pacific Time players effectively see it unlock at 9:01 PM PT the night before (because the US unlock is tied to the country’s eastern-most time zone hitting 12:01 AM). The same pattern applies to Early Access on May 15 and the full launch on May 19.
On Steam, multiple tracking and launch-time guides indicate a global unlock around 04:00 UTC (often written as 04:01 UTC in articles), which lines up with 12:00–12:01 AM US Eastern and 9:00–9:01 PM US Pacific the previous evening. SteamDB specifically lists the release as 19 May 2026 – 04:00:00 UTC, and PC Gamer similarly reports Steam going live globally at 4:01 AM UTC.
Platforms, Game Pass availability, and the PS5 situation
For the May launch, the confirmed platforms are Xbox Series X|S and PC (Microsoft Store/Xbox app and Steam). The same official post also states that Forza Horizon 6 will be playable via Game Pass Ultimate / PC Game Pass starting May 19, 2026, and that a PS5 version is coming later in 2026 (with wishlisting already available).
Preload and storage (so you’re ready on launch night)
Preloading is available ahead of release, and the game is big—GameSpot reports file sizes of roughly 135 GB on Xbox Series X, 130 GB on Series S, and 160 GB on PC (SSD required). If you’re aiming to play the minute it unlocks, preloading is the difference between driving in Japan right away versus waiting through a long download on launch day.