Turn up Your Airwaves with the Horizon Festival’s Biggest Line-Up Yet

With less than two weeks to go until Forza Horizon 6 Early Access begins for players who have purchased the Premium Edition or Premium Upgrade, we’re excited to share with you all that the game has officially gone gold! This milestone means the game is being pressed onto discs for retail and prepared for digital release.

In addition, there is exciting news about preload availability and the full reveal of Forza Horizon 6's radio stations, the rendering specifications of Quality and Performance modes on Xbox Series X|S, and we’re taking a closer look at the game’s accessibility features.

Preload Forza Horizon 6

To coincide with this important milestone, Forza Horizon 6 is now available for preload on Xbox Series X|S and PC via the Xbox app (Steam preload coming soon). You can now download the game in its entirety and ensure you’re all set to experience the breathtaking landscapes of Japan as soon as the game is available to you. On Xbox Series X, you will need to have at least 135GB of available storage (130GB on Xbox Series S), and on PC, 160GB and an SSD is required.

You can pre-download Forza Horizon 6 if you have pre-ordered the game (Standard Edition, Deluxe Edition, or Premium Edition) or with an active Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass membership. If you’re planning to purchase Forza Horizon 6 on disc, you can also preload the game today by using the Xbox app on smartphones. Simply find Forza Horizon 6 in the Store and hit “Download to Console” to get started.

If you already pre-loaded Forza Horizon 6 with the placeholder file, we highly recommend checking for game updates on your platform of choice to confirm the complete game files are installed. This will ensure you’re all set to play Forza Horizon 6 as soon as Early Access begins on May 15 with the Premium Edition or Premium Upgrade, or on May 19 once the game rolls out globally.

Your Horizon Festival Soundtrack

We’re thrilled to be so close to the release of the game, and to celebrate, we’re excited to reveal the music you will hear on your journey towards becoming a Horizon Legend. Music isn’t just at the backdrop of our games; it’s at the forefront of the Horizon Festival. Forza Horizon has had it all, from global sensations and smash hits to hidden gems and genre-bending beats that have infused our iconic line-up of radio stations, expertly curated for your listening pleasure.

With Forza Horizon 6, it should be no surprise that iconic J-pop songs are debuting at the Horizon Festival for the first time, and these are combined with our unique flavour of electronic anthems, energising drum & bass, feel-good electropop, heavy-hitting rock, alternative indie, hip-hop beats, nostalgic synthwave, and modern classical.

With 9 radio stations to choose from, Forza Horizon 6 features the largest number of tracks yet in a Horizon title. Over the coming days on our @ForzaHorizon social channels, we will be revealing the extensive track selection of radio songs in the game. If you want to listen to the soundtrack before release, we will also create a Spotify playlist for each station.

• Horizon Pulse
• Horizon Bass Arena
• Horizon Block Party
• Horizon XS
• Hospital Records
• Gacha City Radio
• Sub Pop Records
• Horizon Wave
• Horizon Opus

Horizon Bass Arena

Horizon XS

Quality and Performance Modes on Xbox Series X|S

On Xbox Series X|S, we’re including both Quality and Performance rendering modes so you can prioritize your preference for graphics or framerate while playing Forza Horizon 6.

On Xbox Series X, the Quality mode runs in native 4K resolution at 30fps with increased visual fidelity, while the Performance mode targets 4K resolution, scaling dynamically to maintain a smooth 60fps.

Meanwhile, Xbox Series S players can enjoy Japan in 1440p at 30fps with Quality mode, and 1080p at 60fps in Performance mode – with both options dynamically scaling the output resolution to maintain their targeted framerate.

Loyalty Rewards for Forza Veterans

The Forza community spans decades of games, and to show our appreciation to those who have been with us all the way, we have created a set of Loyalty Rewards for players of our previous games. Check out the list of games and cars below – if your Xbox Gamertag has played the game listed, you will receive its associated car in Forza Horizon 6 once you complete the Tokyo City introductory race with Mei.

Customize Your Horizon Experience

Forza Horizon 6 includes the rich suite of accessibility features the Horizon series is known for and introduces some new options. AutoDrive can be accessed with ANNA by using the d-pad while you’re exploring Japan. Pause the game, open the map, set a waypoint to your preferred location, and use ANNA to initiate AutoDrive. Then you can sit back, relax and take in the breathtaking sights of Japan.

Meanwhile, Proximity Radar helps identify cars in your blind spots, making it easier to avoid unintentional collisions and keep the racing clean, especially when using cockpit, hood, or bumper cameras. You can choose which HUD location works best for you, and you can even enable audio cues. Our biggest new feature, however, is High Contrast Mode, which makes the game’s open world of Japan more visually accessible.

High Contrast Mode simplifies the screen to make it easier for players to distinguish important objects. It’s fully customizable, allowing players to calibrate the experience in a way that works best for them.

Other accessibility options returning to Forza Horizon 6 include full controller remapping functionality on all platforms, screen reading narration, subtitles, adjustable camera field-of-view options on PC, color-blind filters, Offline Game Speed modification, and our full set of difficulty settings and driving assists.

In a post-launch update, players will be able to enable American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) for cinematics which will feature picture-in-picture display of an ASL or BSL interpreter during cinematic game scenes, with the ability to change where the interpreter appears on screen.

Japan Awaits!

Are you ready to obtain your Festival Wristband? It’s your ticket to the greatest car culture and music event in the world – the journey to Legend Island is almost here!

Pre-orders are now live on Microsoft Store and Steam. If you purchase the game before its release, you will receive an exclusive, pre-tuned Ferrari J50! You can also add the game to your Wishlist on the PlayStation Store to be notified of availability.

Chat about everything Forza Horizon 6 related in our Forza Discord server. Plus, be sure to follow @ForzaHorizon social channels on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) to get all the latest updates from the Horizon Festival.