Forza Horizon 6 leak not a "pre-load issue," Playground Games claims as dev bans entire bloodlines for playing pirated copies

If I had a nickel for every big triple-A game that’s been leaked early over the past couple of months, I’d have two nickels. It’s not much, but it’s certainly a big problem. Forza Horizon 6 has been uploaded to Steam in its entirety, opening it up to the videogame seven seas. While, initially, it was thought to be a preload issue in the same vein as Pragmata’s premature arrival, Steam tracking site SteamDB suggests otherwise. The news comes as developer Playground Games has gone on a banning spree, nuking the IPs of anyone caught with an illegitimate copy for thousands of years.

Two days ago, Forza Horizon 6 was uploaded in its entirety, and it didn’t take long for folks to notice that the racing game lacked encryption. From there, it began to spread like wildfire, popping up across the internet. However, unlike Pragmata, Forza Horizon developer Playground Games claims that “this is not the result of a pre-load issue,” which suggests that someone managed to get hold of a copy without the usual DRM protection slapped on when the pre-load files go up.

Adding credence to this, SteamDB has now alleged that “Forza Horizon 6 was very likely leaked by someone with early access to the build,” be they a “reviewer or similar.” It’s worrying stuff if true, especially as the potential knock-ons could be massive for developer and publisher trust in games media, who are typically the ones to receive builds ahead of time alongside content creators.

A spokesperson for SteamDB stresses to PCGamesN that the service, which isn’t affiliated with Valve, has had no hand in this skulduggery. According to SteamDB’s X post, someone used its token dumper to signal that the files had been uploaded, but it should be noted that the site “does not display or share keys, nor can it provide downloads” – the usual suspects take care of the latter.

Playground Games’ response has, unsurprisingly, been ruthless, dishing out extensive bans to anyone caught playing a pirated copy. “To those who got a little overexcited and decided to play a few days early, we can’t wait to see you on December 31, 9999,” a post from the official Forza Horizon 6 UK account reads. The studio says in another post that it is “taking strict enforcement action against any individuals found accessing this build including franchise-wide and hardware bans.”

So, know that if you take a trip to the year 3000 like they do in that Busted song, you still won’t be able to experience the joys of Forza Horizon. It’s perhaps best, then, to sit tight until the game launches on Tuesday, May 19.