Forza Horizon Could Finally Go to Japan Based on Deleted Social Media Post

The Drive

8 hours ago

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There's quite a vocal subset of Forza Horizon fans who really want the next sequel to be set in Japan. It's been four years since the last entry in the series, which is a long time in the Forza world, and the powers that be at Xbox have said that Horizon 6 is due in 2026. We've got to be on the cusp of something big. A removed social media post from an Australian importer of Japanese cars has poured gasoline on the proverbial fire that Forza Horizon may finally be heading to the land of the Rising Sun.
The importer, Cult and Classic, shared in its Instagram story earlier this week that someone from the Forza Horizon team was shooting one of the Suzuki Every kei vans in their stock. As you can see below, the post never mentioned that Japan is to be FH6's host country—just that this car was being captured 'for the next installation [sic] in the series.'
Now, it should be said that Forza Horizon 5 does count one kei car in its ranks—the Autozam AZ-1—despite being set in Mexico. But Forza's rosters have never really embraced kei cars, and the Every is the sort of vehicle you'd expect to see in typical Japanese traffic. Couple that with the fact that Forza Motorsport development personnel recently found themselves in Japan to gather assets for the reborn and revitalized Fujimi Kaido track, and the pieces seem to fit together. There's no way staff were sent halfway around the world purely to resurrect a fictional circuit for a series that, regrettably, probably doesn't exist anymore.
Forza Horizon is incredibly popular, and FH5's debut on the PlayStation 5, more than three years after it first dropped on Xbox and PC, has been enormously successful. As of July, it was reportedly the platform's best-selling new game of 2025 thus far. Frankly shocking, given that Microsoft was still intent on charging full price for a game from 2021.
Without question, the decision to bring the Horizon Festival to Japan would set the racing game world on fire. Personally, it would pique my interest, since I've found Horizon to be stagnating for multiple entries now, with developer Playground Games focusing on building unique open worlds for each title and never really changing much about the games' structure or the sensation of driving. If it ain't broke, and you're able to sell a three-year-old game for $60 despite not being Nintendo, don't fix it, I guess.
But a Japan-based Horizon carries inherent challenges. For one, cities or more urban areas in these games have always felt kind of like an afterthought. But if you want to render Japan authentically, densely populated spaces need to be extremely detailed and intricate. Think about the highways of Tokyo Xtreme Racer and all the narrow streets below the overpasses. You'd want some of those iconic parking areas, too. FH5's map is obviously a beautiful and painstakingly crafted miniature replica of Mexico, but it's easier—relatively speaking, of course—to drop a big desert in an open world, or a tall mountain to climb. Maybe that's why this installment is taking so long.
If Playground can pull it off, though, it'll be magnificent. And just imagine if they also placed some real Japanese racetracks around the map? Maybe a Tsukuba here, or a Suzuka there. (How about my personal favorite, Sugo?) The opportunities, considering the country's motorsport culture, are numerous, and it's hard not to get excited about the potential. Which is why we sincerely hope that there's something tangible behind this supposed leak, and fans aren't allowing their collective imagination to run wild here.
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