Forza Horizon 6 has suffered a major pre-release blow after the entire game leaked online due to an unencrypted Steam preload, just days before its scheduled launch. Roughly 155 gigabytes of game files were uploaded to Steam’s backend over the weekend without the encryption that normally prevents early access, allowing pirates to quickly distribute the full game across torrent sites. The error appears to stem from a premature decryption update pushed through Steam, which would typically only go live once the game officially launches. The mishap was spotted by users on SteamDB and rapidly spread across social media and Reddit before takedown efforts began.
Developer Playground Games moved quickly to patch the error, but the damage was already done. Cracked versions of the open-world racer proliferated online, and footage from the leaked build began appearing on YouTube and social media platforms. Microsoft has responded aggressively, issuing takedown notices and working with platforms like Reddit, where at least one prominent thread discussing the leak had its content removed by Reddit’s legal operations team.
Beyond takedowns, Microsoft and Playground Games are making it clear that anyone caught playing the pirated version will face severe consequences. Playground Games has announced it will ban the accounts of players caught accessing the leaked build, with some bans stretching roughly 8,000 years into the future. One content creator who streamed the pirated version without hiding their account name reportedly received a ban lasting until December 31, 9999 — a punishment that has been verified by Eurogamer through the creator’s own Discord server.
The leak is an embarrassing setback for Microsoft, which had positioned Forza Horizon 6 as one of its marquee releases for the year. Set in Japan, the game is currently the second-best-selling title by revenue on Steam and sits among the platform’s most-wishlisted games. Steam is expected to be a critical sales channel alongside Xbox and Game Pass availability, making the pre-release piracy especially concerning. Previous installment Forza Horizon 5 is estimated to have sold between 7.2 and 8.4 million units on Steam alone, giving some sense of the financial stakes involved.
This is not the first time Forza Horizon 6 has jumped ahead of its intended schedule. Back in January, the game’s May 19 release date leaked prematurely through a pop-up advertisement within Forza Horizon 5. The latest incident also echoes a similar mishap that befell Death Stranding 2, which suffered its own unencrypted Steam leak ahead of launch. For players who purchased the Premium Edition expecting exclusive early access starting May 15, seeing the game circulate freely online before they could play is an understandably frustrating outcome.
Microsoft has not yet confirmed whether the leak will affect the game’s launch timeline, and official unlock times remain unannounced. However, given the strong preorder numbers and the game’s prominent placement on Steam’s sales charts, Forza Horizon 6 still appears poised for a commercially successful debut — though the full impact of pre-launch piracy on its sales figures will only become clear in the weeks ahead.