A major disaster for Microsoft and Playground Games.
The upcoming Forza Horizon 6 has reportedly been completely leaked ahead of its impending release on 19 May. It is already being regarded as the biggest leak in the franchise’s history and, unfortunately, it may have stemmed from something as simple as human error.
How was Forza Horizon 6 leaked?
According to reports, an unencrypted repository containing Forza Horizon 6 files was uploaded to Steam earlier today, allowing users–particularly pirates–to gain premature access to the game.
Thousands of assets packing 155 GB of content were exposed and quickly distributed across piracy channels. This reportedly includes early gameplay footage, internal documentation, car lists, environmental textures and assets, as well as developmental material related to the next Forza Horizon title. Some posts sharing these on Reddit have already been struck down by “Reddit's Legal Operations” team.
The leak, arriving ten days ahead of launch, has given pirates a considerable head start, granting them access even before Premium Edition buyers, who were meant to receive early access on 15 May–four days before the official release.
This has proven especially frustrating for many fans, with one user on X immediately refunding their Premium upgrade package while calling on Microsoft and the developers to “do better”.
“Personally decided to refund the Forza Horizon 6 Premium Upgrade. I bought it only for early access, and when the full game ends up playable early because of platform mistakes, that ‘benefit’ means nothing,” NIKFOR posted.
If there is any consolation, Forza Horizon 6 UK, and several other accounts, reported a screenshot showing that anyone caught using pirated copies could face a lifetime ban from Microsoft.
This breach is beyond doubt a major setback for Forza Horizon 6, especially after what had appeared to be a remarkably smooth development cycle. However, major pre-launch leaks have apparently become a common issue across the gaming industry nowadays.
What other games were leaked before launch?
Before the Forza Horizon 6 incident, several other titles suffered similar premature leaks that allowed players to access the games ahead of release.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was uploaded in full last March, exposing 113 GB of content following another encryption-related failure. Pragmata was cracked just a day before launch, while LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight was just accidentally released early on Xbox through Walmart digital codes.
The odd abundance of recent game leaks has sparked debates surrounding security within the gaming industry. Some theorise that increased reliance on AI tools may be adding difficulties in encryption processes, while others point towards ongoing layoffs across the industry reducing available manpower and oversight.
That said, Microsoft and Playground Games have yet to issue a public response regarding the Forza Horizon 6 leak.
