While most of us already knew Forza Horizon 6 was heading to Japan, what we didn’t know was when we’d finally get our hands on it. Thanks to the recent Xbox Developer Showcase, that mystery is finally gone, as Xbox confirmed the Forza Horizon 6 release date is May 19, 2026. The hype should be an easy win here, except there’s one detail that immediately stood out, and it’s going to be a sore spot for a lot of people. That release date is only for Xbox Series X|S and PC, and the PlayStation 5 version is missing from the launch announcement.
Now, before anyone starts panicking or pretending the sky is falling, it’s not like the PS5 version was cancelled or quietly swept under the rug. Xbox outright said it is coming, and so did Playground Games. The problem is the only release window we have is the vague and annoying phrase: “later this year.” No month, no day, no real timeframe. Just later. And if you’ve seen anyone online claiming they know the exact PS5 release date right now, let me save you the trouble. They don’t. If they said they did, they’re lying to you.
Still, I’m not even mad at this, and I’m sure that’s going to sound wild to some people. Playground Games has already pointed toward optimization as the reason for the delay, because they want the PS5 version to look and run as best as it can. That’s not just PR speak either. If Forza Horizon 6 drops on PlayStation and performance is shaky, the discussion becomes about how “Xbox can’t port games,” how “the PS5 version is inferior,” and how “Playground fell off,” even if none of that is true. One messy port is all it takes to poison the online perception of a game, and Horizon is way too big for that kind of self-inflicted damage.
But even beyond the development side of it, there’s another reason this staggered release doesn’t bother me: Xbox owners actually get something first, and right now that matters. Whether people want to admit it or not, the steady stream of Xbox-published games landing on other platforms has left a lot of longtime Xbox fans feeling a certain way.
For many, it’s felt like a slap in the face, like you bought into the platform, supported it, stuck with it, and then watched the exclusivity vanish piece by piece. For others, it made the decision to not buy an Xbox even easier, because why bother investing in another console when the games you want will eventually land on PlayStation or Nintendo anyway? That’s been the overall feeling with just about every Xbox-published title making its way elsewhere, and it has absolutely changed how people talk about the brand.
So even if this delay is strictly a development move, it still gives Xbox owners something they can call their own, even if it’s only temporary. When Playground Games says “later this year,” that could mean a few weeks after May 19, or it could mean several months. Either way, Xbox and PC players get to jump into Japan first, and for once, Xbox fans can point to something and say, “Yeah, we got this one first.” It’s not permanent exclusivity, but it’s still something, and after the last few years, I honestly don’t blame Xbox for wanting to deliver that feeling again, even if only for a little while.
There’s also one other question hanging over all of this that’s arguably bigger than the PS5 delay itself: cross-play. As of right now, cross-play hasn’t been mentioned at all. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen, but it hasn’t been confirmed, and that matters because Horizon lives and dies by the community. Convoys, online events, seasonal content, meetups, all that fun stuff feels so much better when the playerbase isn’t split into separate ecosystems.
When the PS5 version drops later this year, I’m hoping it arrives with full cross-play enabled so everyone can be in the same space, because the last thing Forza Horizon 6 needs is another “which platform has the bigger playerbase” war. Maybe that’s something we’ll find out closer to the May launch, or maybe Xbox saves that announcement for when the PS5 version gets its own reveal, but either way, it’s a feature that needs to happen.
No matter how you feel about the platform rollout, the important part is this: Forza Horizon 6 is almost here, and it’s finally taking the series somewhere fans have been begging for years. Japan is going to be an absolutely perfect setting for Horizon’s mix of speed, style, and open-world chaos, and I’m already looking forward to throwing my favorite cars sideways through Tokyo streets and mountain roads like I’ve got something to prove.
And being a car fan, I’m ready for all of it. I just hope my daily ride, a 2022 Kia Stinger GT1 AWD, makes the cut and ends up in the car list. Yeah, laugh if you want because it’s a Kia, but the Stinger already proved itself. It showed up in Forza Horizon 4, and it’s a legit road beast. Nearly 370 horsepower, a twin-turbo V6, and enough punch to embarrass cars that cost way more. C’mon, Playground Games, I need my Stinger in Forza Horizon 6.
