A playable pre-release build of Forza Horizon 6 has leaked ahead of its official launch, and Playground Games isn’t taking it lightly.
The studio has warned that anyone caught running the unauthorized build could face permanent, franchise-wide bans. That means enforcement may stretch beyond Horizon 6 itself and hit access to other Forza titles and online services tied to the same account.
The warning reportedly applies even to players who keep quiet. Moderators of the Forza Horizon community say Playground confirmed that users of cracked or leaked copies can be banned even if they never post a single clip or stream.
Early speculation pointed at a Steam preload slip-up, but Playground shut that theory down. The studio stated the leak was not caused by a preload issue. Steam preloads are encrypted by default and shouldn’t be playable before release without a proper unlock.
That narrows the likely source to a review build, a press depot, or another controlled early-access channel that someone decided to redistribute.
Playground hasn’t spelled out the exact scope. In practice, “franchise-wide” likely means losing online access across Forza games rather than having purchased copies wiped from a library. Think server lockouts, blocked multiplayer, and account flags across the Forza ecosystem.
