Forza Horizon 6 could launch sooner than you think, if reports of a strange advertisement seen in Forza Horizon 5 are to be believed

• A pop-up in Forza Horizon 5 may have revealed the release date for the next game in the series
• Forza Horizon 6 could launch as early as May
• The game is set to be showcased at next week's Xbox Developer Direct

Oops; Playground Games may have leaked the launch date of Forza Horizon 6 earlier than expected.

That's because one user on Twitter (spotted by Xbox Era) appears to have found a pop-up ad in Forza Horizon 5 that details a potential release window and features coming in the upcoming open-world racing game.

The big takeaway here is the following bullet point: "Early Access - Play 4 days early starting May 15." Naturally, this would indicate that Forza Horizon 6's full release will be on May 19, 2026.

But don't get your hopes up just yet. The Xbox Era team notes that they weren't able to duplicate the ad in-game. I also have Forza Horizon 5 installed on PC, and I couldn't find the pop-up anywhere. It may have been stealth-patched out already, or it is only showing for a select few players.

Be sceptical for now, then. But you likely won't have to wait long for official confirmation. Forza Horizon 6 is one of the games being shown at next week's Xbox Developer Direct showcase, on January 22. There's a pretty decent chance we'll get our official release date there.

Otherwise, one other detail in that leaked pop-up - if real - has me a little concerned. It's the mention of being able to drive "over 550 real-world cars," which itself isn't out of the ordinary for the series.

However, as much as I love the Horizon games, they can often buckle under the weight of that sheer volume of content. Wheelspins are the biggest offender to me, offering up new cars for you to drive on a near-constant basis. For me at least, it means you never get to settle into a real favorite, as you're being constantly bombarded with new vehicles to check out.

I hope Wheelspins occur much less frequently in Forza Horizon 6, or the team at Playground Games finds new and interesting ways for players to unlock cars, as we see with the superb Barn Finds system of prior entries.

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