Forza Horizon 6 Surpasses 6 Million Players After Japan Launch
Forza Horizon 6's rapid player milestone and the community's focus on its auto-drive quirks and license plate restrictions show that the series' first Japan setting has generated engagement beyond just driving mechanics, turning environmental authenticity and system oddities into major talking points.
Reporting from 5 sources: 4Gamer.net, GAME Watch (Impress), Denfaminicogamer, Automaton, and 1 more.
Microsoft and Playground Games released Forza Horizon 6 on May 19, 2026, for PC and Xbox Series X|S, with a PlayStation 5 version scheduled for later in the year. The game is set in a fictionalized version of Japan and features the largest map in series history. Within three days of launch, the player count exceeded 6 million, according to Microsoft. The game entered early access on May 15 for Premium Edition purchasers. Alongside the release, Microsoft expanded a preview of its Advanced Shader Delivery technology to PCs with AMD GPUs, reducing shader compilation time in Forza Horizon 6 from nearly a minute to four seconds. The game includes an auto-drive function that has drawn attention for its aggressive AI behavior, which prioritizes reaching the destination over safety. Players have also noted strict license plate customization restrictions, with strings like 'RX', '86', and '88' blocked by a language filter, likely due to global slang considerations. The game's detailed recreation of Japanese scenery has been widely praised, with some players reporting they spend more time taking screenshots than racing.
Players have also noted that the auto-drive function can be used during racing events against opponent vehicles. On roads with few regular vehicles, the AI has been shown to smoothly avoid cars at speeds up to 300 km/h, decelerating properly and navigating curves stably. However, the AI prioritizes avoiding the car ahead over obstacles, meaning it will charge into guardrails or median strips without hesitation. Cars customized for drifting are especially prone to accidents under auto-drive, as they skid frequently. By downgrading a vehicle's top speed through customization, players can achieve slower, safer auto-drive.
The license plate restrictions have generated confusion beyond the banned strings. Available characters for the eight-space plate include only 10 hiragana characters (ma, na, ra, mi, chi, se, to, yu, me, tsu), 26 alphabet letters, 10 numbers, 7 Japanese-style icons, blank spaces, middle dots, and hyphens. The fixed upper portion reads "Japan 301," with the number changing based on the player's region. While strings like "AE86" and "GR86" are allowed, standalone "86" is blocked. Other reported restricted strings include "66," "101," "KUMA," and "LOL." Players can bypass the restrictions by creating license plate-style decals and applying them to the license plate position, with user-shared decals available for download in-game.
The game also features a "treasure vehicle" system where players can find and restore abandoned cars. A Denfaminicogamer article highlighted the in-game character "Yuji," who can restore a battered car to drivable condition within hours, including rare vehicles like the Honda NSX-R GT.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 5 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- 4Gamer.net 「Forza Horizon 6」，リリースから3日でプレイヤー数が600万人を突破。さまざまな車両をもらえるイベントもスタート
- GAME Watch (Impress) 「Forza Horizon 6」のプレーヤー数が600万人を突破！
- Denfaminicogamer 『Forza Horizon 6』に“夏”が到来。「ひまわり」が咲き始めたほか、白川郷のように季節の変化が楽しめるエリアを再訪する遊び方も
- Automaton リアル日本レース『Forza Horizon 6』、ナンバープレートの“規制”がやけに多いと困惑される。「RX」「86」「88」などNGいっぱい、世界中の隠語に配慮か
- Game Spark 『Forza Horizon 6』高難度設定でAIが速すぎる問題、開発チームが調査中と報告。引き続き新コンテンツと改善のアップデートを約束 | Game*Spark - 国内・海外ゲーム情報サイト