Grand Theft Auto VI has once again shaken up the gaming industry with its new release date, which has been pushed back another six months.

The hugely successful open-world racing franchise will return next year on Xbox Series and PC, featuring the long-awaited Japanese setting. But when will it be released? All Forza Horizon games have been released between September and November thus far, but according to reliable insider Nate the Hate, this may change for Forza Horizon 6. Playground Games is reportedly planning to release it in the first half of 2026. The fall release period has done wonders for the series so far. Forza Horizon 5 reached 40 million players by July of last year and has continued to grow since then, thanks to the release of the PlayStation 5; it even surpassed Sony’s own game sales for a while.

However, 2026 is a special case, as Grand Theft Auto VI was postponed to November 19. Every AAA game developer (and most indie developers) wants to avoid competing with it. It all depends on whether the game will be ready for release by then. If it is released in the first half of 2026, it will have been four and a half years since Forza Horizon 5, the longest gap between installments in the franchise by far. Playground Games may release two games next year since their other high-risk project, Fable, was postponed from 2025 to 2026. Fable could be released toward the end of next year, unless it is postponed again to 2027.

First half 2026 has been the target and remains as such.

— NateTheHate2 (@NateTheHate2) November 27, 2025

Although the developers haven’t revealed many details about Forza Horizon 6 yet, we already know a few things. The map is built around three main regions: densely populated Tokyo; the coastline; and the mountainous tōge roads. Playground Games is focusing less on raw size and more on density and verticality, especially in Tokyo. There, the developers have used multi-level roads inspired by the Forza Horizon 5 Hot Wheels expansion. The map design emphasizes narrow city streets, multi-level highways, mountain passes, and side roads next to rural rice fields. This variety of terrain offers a range of driving experiences, including Japanese-style car races such as city street races, mountain drifting, and high-speed coastal races.

The campaign progression resembles the structure of the original Forza Horizon, where players start with slower cars and gradually progress. Faster levels become available as players advance rather than being accessible from the beginning. The car selection will significantly expand to include Japanese cars, such as kei cars and kei vans, which will appear as both drivable garage cars and AI-controlled traffic. Fans will be enchanted by the open world’s natural beauty and technical improvements to the engine.

A PlayStation 5 version is almost guaranteed, given the success of Forza Horizon 5. The only question is whether it will be released in 2026 or 2027.

Source: WCCFTech