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Forza Horizon 6’s leaked Steam preload build is already spreading online

Xbox’s biggest racing game of the year just leaked early

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Playground Games

Forza Horizon 6 is one of the most exciting Xbox launches of the year. After years of waiting, fans of the franchise are finally getting the Japan setting they had been asking for, including the dense Tokyo city area, scenic mountain roads, and a garage expected to include more than 550 cars.

The hype was already running high, but just days before its official launch window, the game has reportedly leaked, with a full build now said to be circulating on shady platforms.

Forza Horizon 6 files got leaked nearly 10 days before launch

Devs accidentally pushed the full game files through a Steam update and apparently forgot to encrypt the preload.

People spotted it on SteamDB shortly after the update went live. pic.twitter.com/CyPtYAMpQ3

— TheGameVerse (@TheGameVerse) May 10, 2026

How did Forza Horizon 6 leak before launch?

According to reports, a PC build of Forza Horizon 6 has leaked online through Steam preload files, which were uploaded without encryption. The leak file size is reported to be a massive 155GB on disk and around 140 GB compressed. Microsoft and Playground Games have not officially confirmed the leak or commented on the reports yet.

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Forza Horizon 6 launches on May 19, 2026, for Xbox Series X/S and PC, with Premium Edition early access starting on May 15. The official Forza site also confirms that the game is coming to PS5 later this year. The leaked files are already being discussed on Reddit, X, and gaming forums, where users claim that the game is playable due to it lacking any Anti-Tamper DRM like Denuvo.

People who claim to have played the leaked copy say the online mode is unavailable, which is expected for an unreleased build. They also report frequent crashes across different hardware setups, likely because the leaked version is missing a final optimization or day-one patch.

How badly could this hurt Playground Games?

This leak could hurt the game in more ways than simple piracy concerns. It can spoil surprises, make paid early access less appealing, disrupt the launch campaign, and force the studio to deal with damage control before release.

Reports say Forza Horizon 6 has already crossed 500,000 pre-orders on Steam, so the timing is especially bad. If the unoptimized leaked build keeps spreading online, some buyers may cancel their pre-orders or wait for the final version.

Sudhanshu Kumar Mangalam
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