After years of requests, it’s official – Forza Horizon 6 is coming in 2026, and it will be set in Japan. Announced today during the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 Broadcast, we saw a cinematic teaser trailer that included Easter eggs from each of the previous games in the open world driving series – before offering a glimpse at the incredible world Playground Games is creating.

Of course, a teaser trailer is always going to generate a lot more questions – and thankfully I was able to go straight to Playground Games to get answers. In discussion with Art Director, Don Arceta and Cultural Consultant, Kyoko Yamashita, we dug into exactly why Japan was chosen as the next location to explore, how this take on Japan will feel like a true reflection of the real-life country, and much more.

Why Was Japan the Right Fit for the Next Forza Horizon Game?

With Playground Games able to take their pick of setting from anywhere in the world, picking the right location could be seen as a challenge – but, with Japan, so much was already in place.

“For a long time, Japan has been top of Horizon fans’ wish lists, so we’re excited to finally be bringing this much-requested location to players in Forza Horizon 6,” explains Arceta. “Japan has such a unique culture – from cars, to music, to fashion – that make it perfect for the next Horizon setting. As with any Horizon title, we want to make sure we do the country justice in terms of authentic representation and Horizon open world playability – and now is the right time to realize that fully for players.”

The timing is right, in part, due to practicalities – it now feels as though the technical side can keep up with representing Japan correctly, and Playground’s developers also come armed with a huge amount of experience from previous games.

“The beauty of Horizon games is that each one gives us learnings and ways to make the next even bigger and better,” says Arceta. “As well as taking player feedback into account, we’ve also been able to lean into more practical things – for instance, the Forza Horizon 5 Hot Wheels DLC has helped us develop the elevated roads of Tokyo City in FH6.”

Yamashita adds that Japan is just a naturally interesting place to make your way around, making it a perfect match for the kind of exploration a Horizon game encourages: “I love the coexistence of Japan: a neighborhood shrine beside a small workshop beside a neon arcade – traditional and modern on the same block. There is so much scope and inspiration to be explored with Japan, and the richness felt like a natural fit for this game.”

With Xbox going big at Tokyo Game Show, it also made it a natural fit to announce the game today. “While fans have been asking for this location for a long time, it was important to us to acknowledge the love and reverence we have for Japan and its unique culture,” Arceta continues. “What better way to do that than announcing in Tokyo at Japan’s biggest gaming event of the year?”

What Japanese Locations Will Be Included?

Horizon games regularly perform the feat of recreating an entire country as a single, seamless map. It’s never a one-to-one chunk of the real world, rather a blend of locations that balance player fun with capturing the spirit of their inspiration. Japan, with so many varied and familiar locations, presents a huge palette of possibilities for the team. While the teaser shows us Mount Fuji and its surroundings, where else will Playground pull from?

“While we’re not announcing too much in terms of detail right now, we’re excited to show fans the true breadth of beauty – both natural and urban environments – that Japan has to offer,” explains Arceta. “From the neon lights and towering buildings of Tokyo City – one of our most detailed and layered environments to date – to the serenity and natural beauty of Japan’s rural and mountain areas, we think players will be blown away by the open world of Japan that we have built.

“And while we are not necessarily trying to recreate Japan and its environments like for like, our goal has always been to capture the country’s unique cultural essence and present it back in the most Horizon way possible.”

Research was a huge part of this process – Arceta, Yamashita, and the team travelled to Japan to help capture details that might not be as obvious when working simply from reference material.

“The trip to Japan demonstrated that the dev team were truly approaching Japan with the right level of curiosity and observation,” enthuses Yamashita. “During our fieldwork in Tokyo, most of the group were first-time visitors. A few days in, someone said, ‘For all the energy here, it’s… quiet.’ That observation – organized chaos with surprising calm – told me they weren’t just looking; they were feeling the place. It’s the kind of insight you can’t fake, and it shaped later conversations about movement, etiquette, and sound.”