Forza Horizon 6 Under Siege: Microsoft Issues Bans Following Huge Steam Leak

The upcoming Forza Horizon 6 looks great and may be one of Xbox Game Studio's biggest releases yet, but unfortunately for the publisher and series developer Playground Games, the entire game was inadvertently leaked 10 days ahead of its official May 19th launch. This leak happened because the Steam preload files for Forza Horizon 6 were unencrypted, making it easier for pirates to crack the game and begin distributing the files. Copyright notices and takedowns have been swift in response, but the damage has already been done.

On the plus side, early gameplay impressions have been largely positive, highlighting the high-fidelity graphics and heavier, weightier controls compared to Forza Horizon 5. Like Horizon 5, the game is also slated for a delayed follow-up release on PlayStation 5, though that date is still to be disclosed. Those who pre-ordered the game with the Premium upgrade on Xbox or PC will be able to start playing the game four days early, starting on May 15th.


Per the WCCFTech report, pirates are being severely penalized with lifetime hardware and Xbox account bans. In fact, "lifetime" might be underselling it: the official unban date is December 31st, 9999, or about 7973 years from now. It's a hefty punishment, and not an easy one to get around without buying a new motherboard or entirely new PC. Pirates who were unwise enough to run the game on their primary rigs are sure to feel the sting.

Hopefully, this leak doesn't deter sales for Forza Horizon 6. The franchise has a great track record so far, and the game looks good, with reasonable PC system requirements. At least, the leak of a crack for the PC release shouldn't impact the sales of the game on consoles. In any case, it's an unfortunate situation for the developers at Playground Games, and a pertinent reminder to be extra careful when handling the pre-release window of major releases like this one.