One of the greatest Xbox games of the year Forza Horizon 6With Early Access to the title this week for Premium Edition owners on May 15th, the May 19th release date is just one week away. It’s a time of massive excitement and hype for what is expected to be one of the best games of 2026. Xbox Game Pass also hit – but it was marred by a rather disastrous leak Steam version of the title.
Sunday Xbox and developer Playground Games preload files have been downloaded for Forza Horizon 6 to Steam, but did so without encryption. This probably led to pirates download and hack the game and then leak it earlylets people play the long-awaited arcade racer early and for free on PC if they’re willing to dig into the build.
We are aware of reports of Forza Horizon 6 being accessed prior to release and can confirm that this is not the result of a preload issue. We take strict action against anyone involved in this structure, including franchising and…May 11, 2026
While there there is HWID cheats that try to bypass bans like this, I don’t recommend using them, as they are not always reliable and can be used as a tool to deliver malware to your system. The only reliable way to bypass the HWID ban is to get a completely new motherboard for your computer; It’s expensive, especially with how expensive PC components have become lately.
It’s worth noting that as I write this article, Xbox and Playground Games have actually publicly commented on the matter, claiming that the leaked build didn’t come from Steam’s preload files (which seems unlikely if you ask me given the timing of things), but vowed to hit anyone with access to the build with “franchise and hardware bans.”
“We are aware of reports of access to Forza Horizon 6 prior to release and can confirm that this is not the result of a preload issue.” he wrote developer. “We are taking strict action against anyone found to be involved in this build, including franchise-wide and hardware bans. We encourage fans to sit tight for the game’s release on May 19th.”
I’m not going to tell you what to do, but given hardware bans and even the risk of being banned from the entire Forza franchise, I strongly recommends If you want to play Forza Horizon 6, just wait a week to do so. It has an MSRP of $69.99, but that’s just it $54.39 Downloaded. Also includes $119.99 Premium Edition with Early Access $92.99 Downloaded.
Are you looking forward to playing Forza Horizon 6? Let me know in the comments and in our poll.
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