Someone at Microsoft forgot to encrypt the preload files. That one oversight has put Forza Horizon 6 in a genuinely awkward spot just 10 days before its May 19 launch.
FH6 set in Tokyo, Japan
According to reports first spotted across gaming and piracy subreddits, someone at Microsoft uploaded the PC version's preload files to Steam without encrypting them. Around 155 GB of content, reportedly including thousands of game assets, was pulled by users before anyone at Xbox caught the mistake. By the time the files were re-encrypted, copies had already spread to multiple piracy sites.
How 155 GB walked out the door
Preload files are supposed to sit locked on your drive until a game officially launches. Encryption is the standard safeguard that prevents anyone from extracting usable content before release day. Here's the thing: skipping that step on a title this size isn't a minor oversight. It's the kind of error that hands piracy communities a finished build of the game more than a week before paying customers can touch it.
The files have since been re-encrypted on Steam, but the damage was done within hours of the window opening. That's how these things tend to go.
What was actually inside
Insider Gaming reported that the leaked package contained thousands of assets from the full game. Forza Horizon 6 is set in Japan, with Playground Games building out locations like the Shibuya Crossing, Ginkgo Avenue, and Tokyo Tower as driveable environments. The game also introduces Horizon Rush, a new obstacle-course event type, alongside updated car and environmental audio. All of that content was sitting unprotected in those preload files.
Car customization in FH6
For players who pre-ordered the Premium Bundle specifically to get four days of early access starting May 15, the leak stings a little differently. You paid extra to play first, and now a portion of the internet has had the full build for free before your early access window even opens. Check out the early access details for Forza Horizon 6 if you want the specifics on what that Premium Bundle actually gets you.
The financial picture for Playground Games
Leaks like this have a real cost. Publishers and developers consistently point to pre-release piracy as a factor that eats into day-one sales, particularly on PC where the barrier to running cracked files is lower than on console. Xbox and Playground Games haven't commented publicly on the incident yet, but the scale here, a full 155 GB of unencrypted content, is significant enough that it would be surprising if there wasn't an internal review underway.
This isn't the first high-profile leak of the year, either. IO Interactive's 007: First Light had its ending leaked earlier in 2026. But a full asset dump 10 days before launch is a different category of problem than a story spoiler.
The leaked files have been re-encrypted on Steam, but copies are already circulating on piracy platforms. Downloading or distributing those files is illegal regardless of whether you've pre-purchased the game.
Forza Horizon 6 still launches May 19 for PC and Xbox Series X, with a PS5 version confirmed for later this year. The game itself looks like one of the stronger entries in the series, and a piracy leak hasn't historically killed a major franchise release. But it does put Playground Games in a position of managing fallout rather than building hype in the final stretch before launch.
For the full picture on what the game includes and when you can play, our Forza Horizon 6 release date and start times guide has everything you need ahead of May 19.
