Forza Horizon 6 has reportedly leaked online ahead of its official release, and players are already downloading and playing the game almost a week early.
According to multiple reports and community discussions, the leak happened after an unencrypted preload build of the game was accidentally uploaded to Steam servers. Normally, preload files are encrypted so players can download them before launch, but cannot access or play the game until the official release time.
This time, things appear to have gone very differently.
Reports claim that the Premium Edition build of Forza Horizon 6, which is around 155GB in size, was uploaded without proper encryption. As soon as players discovered it, the files quickly started spreading across piracy forums and file-sharing platforms.
So far, Microsoft and Playground Games have not officially commented on the leak.
Steam quickly reacted by removing or fixing access to the unencrypted files. However, by then, the files had already spread online.
Despite the leak, the official release schedule for Forza Horizon 6 remains unchanged. The game is scheduled to launch on May 19, 2026 for standard edition buyers, while Premium Edition owners will get early access starting May 15.
Interestingly, this is not the first major preload mistake in 2026. Death Stranding 2 reportedly faced a very similar issue earlier this year, where preload files also leaked ahead of launch.
Forza Horizon 6 is one of Xbox’s biggest upcoming releases and is being heavily promoted by Microsoft. The game is set in Japan and will feature a large open-world map, over 550 cars, new multiplayer modes, and expanded customization features.
