Forza Horizon 6, which racing game enthusiasts have been eagerly awaiting for years, was leaked on Steam just days before its official release, causing a rare shock in the gaming world. The huge racing game, which was planned to be released on May 19, 2026 and excited the players with its Japan theme, fell into the hands of pirate groups as a result of the “preload” files on Steam being uploaded to the servers without being encrypted.

This massive leak, approximately 155 GB in size, covers not only the full version of the game, but also all downloadable content (DLC). After this technical error was noticed in the SteamDB database, while the files spread rapidly on the internet, there are literally crisis moments on the Microsoft and Playground Games front.

Critical Security Vulnerability in Steam Preloading System

In the gaming industry, large-scale (AAA) productions are generally made available for pre-loading a few days in advance in order to avoid congestion on the servers on the release day and to avoid waiting for players. During this standard process, game files are encrypted by Steam with strong algorithms and are kept completely inaccessible until the official release time.

However, in the case of Forza Horizon 6, things did not go as planned. As a result of an error caused by the developer team Playground Games or directly from the Steam infrastructure, all codes, skins and sound files of the game were uploaded to the system in a completely unencrypted form.

According to information rapidly spreading on Reddit and other social networks, hacker groups noticed this huge file within seconds and copied it to their own servers. Online features do not work in the leaked version because it requires Xbox server verification.

However, the game’s single-player career mode, free-roam mechanics and customization options are fully playable.

Lack of Denuvo Protection Made Things Difficult

Microsoft has long avoided using heavy DRM (Digital Rights Management) software such as Denuvo on the PC side, on the grounds that it negatively affects the performance of players. Although this consumer-friendly approach was appreciated under normal circumstances, it paved the way for the game to be run directly without the need for any cracking process as soon as unencrypted files hit the internet.

As you may remember, there was a similar Steam leak in the PC version of Death Stranding 2 in recent months. This second major leak in a short time seriously shakes developers’ trust in Steam’s preloading tools.

Forza Horizon 6: Streets of Japan Revealed Early

One of the most talked about and shared aspects of the leak is the game’s Japan map, which has been kept a secret for a long time. Honest gamers awaiting the official release on May 19, 2026 (Premium version owners get access on May 15) are in danger of major spoilers due to leak videos circulating on social media.

The new world of the game; It offers a wide range of events, from the iconic neon-lit narrow streets of Tokyo to the legendary Daikoku car park encounters and the challenging mountain roads of Mount Fuji. It is clearly seen from the leaked videos that even the small-class Kei vehicles specific to Japan are modeled in detail in the game. Unfortunately, this huge effort went beyond the planned marketing campaign due to a wrong button press.

The loyal player base, who paid extra for the premium version, is very disappointed that pirated users accessed the game weeks before them. All eyes are now on Microsoft and Xbox Game Studios management. Although the company is expected to launch an emergency copyright strike (DMCA) wave to block leaked videos shared on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch, it seems impossible to prevent the leak since the files have already fallen on torrent networks.