The developers over at Playground Games have been asked to take the Forza Horizon series to Japan for years. Players have wanted to bask in the neon lights and the street racing culture, in and around the epic cities and through the picturesque rural environments. Despite this desire, we've had to wait until the sixth chapter in the series before this has become a reality, as Forza Horizon 6, launching next year on PC and Xbox Series X/S will finally head to the Land of Rising Sun.
So why now, why did Playground wait as long as it did to offer up a Japanese adventure? In an Xbox Wire blog post, the developer explains its reasoning in depth.
"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."
Art director Don Arceta also added some extra detail: "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 beauty of Horizon games is that each one gives us learnings and ways to make the next even bigger and better. 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."
We can expect plenty of culturally familiar elements in this game, including one that taps into Forza Horizon's seasons mechanic, where we can look forward to "sweltering summers, snowy winters and, of course, the iconic Sakura season, those precious weeks where cherry blossoms bloom across the country."
Naturally, it looks like 2026 is set to be a massive year for Xbox fans, with Forza Horizon 6 and Fable leading the charge, and expectations for something Halo to mark the series 25th anniversary, and likely even Gears of War: E-Day too.