Forza Horizon 6 Leaker Gets Intense Ban by Developer
Playground Games just issued an intense ban on a player who leaked game footage from their upcoming game. While it’s more than a week away from launch, a Forza Horizon 6 leaker released footage of the game on his YouTube channel thanks to early PC files.
Initial speculation suggested a pre-load error may have exposed the files, although Playground denied that this was the cause. The news spread thanks to posts around social media, with one account, a notorious malware website, VX-Underground, to grab it. On their X account, they posted saying, “Big shout-out to the homies at Microsoft for accidentally publishing Forza Horizon 6 on Steam early.”
Big shout-out to the homies at Microsoft for accidentally publishing Forza Horizon 6 on Steam early
— vx-underground (@vxunderground) May 11, 2026
Microsoft corrected the issue but it was too late. Stinky internet nerds yanked it and now it's all over piracy sites
Very cool, Microsoft. pic.twitter.com/OV94JNyAES
But while some might want to risk getting the game early and for free, it’s really not worth it, as the Microsoft-owned studio has made it clear they’re taking “strict enforcement action.”
Playground said in a statement: “We are aware of reports that a build of Forza Horizon 6 has been obtained prior to its release. We are taking strict enforcement action against any individuals found accessing this build, including franchise-wide and hardware bans.”
A Reddit post, now deleted, posted about the punishment, saying “All those who launched FH6 before the release and were exposed online will receive a permanent hardware ban.”
And they weren’t kidding. One person in particular uploaded gameplay videos and claimed they were unconcerned about the punishment. The Forza Horizon 6 leaker ended up with a hardware ban lasting until December 31, 9999.
Forza Horizon 6 players who mod early copies of the game will be banned until the year 9999. pic.twitter.com/uuC3Zs8GZ7
— TheGameVerse (@TheGameVerse) May 11, 2026
Meanwhile, SteamDB distanced itself from the incident, suggesting the leak likely originated from someone with legitimate early access, such as a reviewer or another industry contact.
Published by Xbox Game Studios, Forza Horizon 6 is currently one of the most anticipated releases on PC and Xbox, with strong wishlist and preorder numbers already recorded ahead of launch. The game is also set to launch day one on Xbox Game Pass.
HAPPY FORZA WEEK…
— Forza Horizon 6 UK 🇬🇧 (@ForzaHorizon5UK) May 11, 2026
…to all those with premium edition who will be joining us this week!
Standard edition players, we can't wait to see you next week!!
To those who got a little overexcited and decided to play a few days early, we can't wait to see you on 31st December… pic.twitter.com/tKAHllafsb
Early access for Forza Horizon 6 begins on May 15, ahead of its full launch on May 19. Microsoft has not indicated whether the leak will impact those release plans.
