Playground Games is redefining open-world racing experiences with Forza Horizon 6, introducing a modern focus on player-driven exploration and rewarding casual gameplay. The latest installment in the popular racing franchise, set to launch in Japan, emphasizes “vibe driving”—simply enjoying the experience of cruising through the game world—as a core element of progression.
Design Director Torben Ellert explained that the team observed a significant number of players who prioritize free-form driving over structured campaigns. “We know from multiple games now that there are so many players who just vibe drive; they just go from place to place in their car experiencing the world,” he said. “So making a world that was both authentic to what Japan feels like, but was also rewarding for players to drive around in, was something we really wanted to do this time.”
This shift in focus is intended to address a previous issue where players who primarily engaged in free driving lacked the resources to progress through the game’s structured campaign. “The players who were just driving, they didn’t have a lot of cars [and] they didn’t have a lot of credits, because they weren’t engaging with the game’s structured campaign of progression,” Ellert noted. This design change aims to create a more inclusive experience for all playstyles.
We know from multiple games now that there are so many players who just vibe drive; they just go from place to place in their car experiencing the world.
Forza Horizon 6 will move away from the traditional formula of starting as an established racing superstar. Players will commence their journey in Japan as tourists, with no initial connection to the Horizon Festival. Access to the main event will require completing qualifying races and obtaining a participation wristband. This revamped campaign structure is designed to provide a clearer sense of progression, inspired by the original Forza Horizon game’s wristband system.
The game will feature a tiered wristband system linked to car classes, with higher-tier vehicles becoming available later in the game. This approach aims to create a more satisfying sense of accomplishment as players unlock new content. The developers are also introducing new ways to reward players for simply exploring the game world. This focus on open-world rewards reflects a broader trend in game design towards player agency and emergent gameplay.
According to Ellert, “With the campaign being a little more structured than we’ve done in the past, we also wanted there to always be something to do while you’re driving around Japan.” This led to the development of “Discover Japan,” a feature that encourages exploration and rewards players for finding hidden activities. “That just happened to be the official tourism slogan for Japan: ‘Japan: Endless Discovery.’ Which was nice.”
With the campaign being a little more structured than we’ve done in the past, we also wanted there to always be something to do while you’re driving around Japan.
The team at Playground Games learned from player feedback on Forza Horizon 4, where some players felt lost due to a lack of visible activities on the map. “We heard from some players: ‘I started the game and drove to Edinburgh and there was nothing on the map.’ Then we said: Oh no. The reason was simply that you hadn’t completed the Tarn Hows event. If you didn’t do Tarn Hows, the game wouldn’t supply you the next activity,” Ellert explained.
Although, Forza Horizon 6 will not force players into a single progression path. The design is intended to “level up” players who prefer to play the game their own way. “I think it comes down to our desire to have things emerge naturally in the world while you’re driving. It might be stunning vistas or fun roads you discover while driving, but tying them to gameplay systems was important because it creates more engaging experiences,” Ellert said.
One of the new activities being showcased is Time Attack, a new mode in Forza Horizon 6.
Chief Game Designer Dave Orton explained: “Time Attack is a completely new feature in Forza Horizon 6. It’s an open-world activity focused on achieving the fastest possible lap times on these popular circuits scattered across the game map.”
He continued: “The circuits are incredibly diverse. You might locate an off-road circuit, or one dedicated to track driving. The core idea is to set a lap time and then try to beat it each time. We also have split times that demonstrate you if you’re faster or slower, and each completed lap earns you credits and experience points. That’s the solo experience, and there’s a loop of play that allows you to retry and set fast laps as much as you want.”
But Time Attack takes on a new dimension when played with or near others.
Orton added: “We noticed that these locations became gathering spots for other players. They’re real activity hubs. This brings us back to the shared-world energy that comes from having real players present. These are hot spots where you’ll find other players trying to set the fastest laps.”
“We also have leaderboards within the world itself that track the best times at a community level, filtered by your PI class. These are real in-world leaderboards. You’ll see the top three times in the community within your class, and you’ll see your own time, so you’ll see your name, your car with its paint job, and your ranking on the leaderboard.”
“You can also see your competitor, and the way our rival system works is that it always prioritizes your friends. You might be driving along, then notice that one of your friends has just beaten your time. All of that happens within the world itself, you’ll simply see that ‘my friend is there and they’re ahead of me,’ and you can go and try to beat them. It’s a system, and since we added it to the game we’ve continued to develop and refine it until it’s where We see now. The moment we added Time Attack and had something that tracked your lap times, we realized we were onto a good idea. Then we started adding lap deltas, then split times, then the chains. And we’ve developed that feature into something we’re really excited about.”
The moment we added Time Attack and had something that tracked your lap times, we realized we were onto a good idea.
Interacting with Time Attack in Forza Horizon 6 is seamless. Players don’t need to drive to a marker on the map and activate it, then wait to join a lobby. All they need to do is drive into one of the permanent race circuits on the map and enter the track area, at which point the race begins.
Orton said: “We also have a Time Attack circuit on Legend Island, which is stunning. As you progress through the campaign and become a Horizon Legend, you’ll gain access to this entirely new area, and there’s a fantastic Time Attack circuit there. So I’m excited to see what players do with it.”
Finding natural ways to reward players for things they were already doing was a key motivation for adding Time Attack.
Ellert stated: “Horizon means a lot to a lot of people, but it means different things to each person. There are those who see technically precise, clean racing as everything. And there are those who just want to drive in the world. And there are those who prefer building, or taking pictures. There are a lot of players and a lot of different ways to play Horizon games.”
He added: “In previous games, we went for a broader campaign that said: ‘Whatever you do, you’ll progress.’ In this game, we wanted to apply that in a way that’s more reliant on the locations you drive in. If you can find an activity, it’s there and you can do it. If you find a street race somewhere inside Tokyo City, you can join it immediately. There are no restrictions preventing you from doing so. And because we’ve given that freedom, where you can just go off and take pictures or do one of the Horizon Stories, we’ve got a full progression system that gives those players a way to play the game.”
“That allowed us to say: ‘Okay, what if the Horizon Festival races themselves were tied to progression? What if you had to employ C-class cars, then B-class, then A-class before you could use S1 or S2 or R cars?’ You have to gradually climb through the tiers. And because we were able to say: ‘If all you want to do is drive and enjoy the world, the game will definitely allow you to do that, and it will reward you for it, and it will give you progression for it.’ That’s what allowed us to add more structure to the Horizon Festival fantasy within the world.”
If all you want to do is drive and enjoy the world, the game will definitely allow you to do that, and it will reward you for it, and it will give you progression for it.
Orton said: “Let’s say you’ve reached a B-class wristband. If you have an S1-class car, you can still drive it in the open world. You can use it in open-world activities, or in street races or Time Attack. But when you enter the Horizon Festival wristband campaign, that’s when the restrictions kick in.”
Ellert added: “I think the elegant thing about that is that it reflects something players are already doing. Just like the Drag meetups, we know players love the synchronized start lights in drag racing. They love knowing which car is the fastest.”
He continued: “And by finding ways to introduce simple systems that create gameplay more rewarding, rather than saying to players: ‘No, come on, friend, we need to go do this now,’ we’re saying: keep doing the things you’re already doing, and there are systems that will make that experience more rewarding. Isn’t Horizon better when we play it together?”
Drag racing in the open world of Forza Horizon 6 was not demonstrated in the preview, but the team clarified that it will function in the same way as Time Attack.
Orton said: “Like Time Attack, everything happens within the open world. You won’t exit the world and enter a matchmaking system. We have three drag racing tracks in the open world, and each one has a starting grid and synchronized lights for all players in the community.”
He added: “You can head to the starting line, get ready, and say: ‘I want to do a drag race.’ That will put you in your spot on the grid, then you wait for the green light. Then you can press the handbrake and rev the engine. Once the light turns green and you launch, you’re entered into a drag race meetup. Your time is recorded, and like Time Attack, you’ll earn credits and experience points each time. Then you go back and retry again.”
“It also uses the same technology for in-world leaderboards. So you’ll see the best drag racers in the community, you’ll see your time, and you’ll see your competitors. And the great thing about the in-world leaderboards for both Time Attack and drag meetups is that they reset every week. That means there’s a new routine players can follow, where each time the season changes, you can go back and put your name on the board again.”
With the addition of Time Attack and drag racing, the next logical step is drifting, right?
Dave Orton smiles, saying: “Yes, we’re highly excited about that too. That’s all I’ll say.”
“Honestly, now that we have events that can happen in the open world, that’s changed the way we think about Horizon experiences going forward. There’s an idea brewing that says: ‘Okay, we have something special here.’ So, stay tuned for more.”
Now that we have events that can happen in the open world, that’s changed the way we think about Horizon experiences going forward.
Another layer to the open-world experiences in Forza Horizon 6 is the new skill system. Longtime Forza Horizon fans are familiar with the skill points system and how it relates to earning car perks, multipliers, rewards, and even exclusive cars. But this time, players will receive a boost to skill points if they perform the same skills with other players nearby at the same time.
Orton explains: “Our skill system encompasses almost everything you do. If you smash a gate, you get a smash skill. It’s a really fun system while you’re freely driving around the game world. And we wanted to create multiplayer experiences stemming from that skill system.”
He adds: “So with linked skills, if you perform the same skill with another player, you get a linked version of it as a reward. If you’re doing a double drift with Torben, you get a Link Drift. If you’re driving on the highway at top speed, you get a Link Speed. It’s a very seamless way to connect with other players. All you do is play the game near another player, and once you do, you get a reward.”
“And while you’re near other players and continue playing, you’ll find these simple boosts that reward you for staying together. Our Link Skill system works exactly like that, even if 12 players are performing a Barrel Roll, you’ll get a linked version of it. And I’m excited to see players do that!”
Ellert adds: “The system is entirely based on in-game systems. Yes, there are places where it’s more likely to happen, and that’s why we looked at Time Attack. You’re more likely to see speed and drifting there, but at a Danger Sign, if you jump from that point together, you’ll get a Link Air.”
Orton says: “And in drag meetups, there are Link Burnout skills. It’s just a nice way to reward you for being near other players without even having to think about it.”
Aftermarket cars in Forza Horizon 6 are another feature that appears throughout the open world. These are cars you’ll encounter parked in various locations and can purchase directly from within the world itself. During today’s preview, a tuned Honda S2000 was parked near the entrance to one of the Time Attack circuits. Players will be able to approach it and purchase it, then either send it to their garage or get behind the wheel immediately.
Ellert says: “Because the system is always looking at the types of cars you can afford and your progression in the campaign, you’ll most often see a car that’s appropriate for the activity you’re about to do, and it’s also cheaper than buying it from the Auto Show. So it’s a great way to expand your car collection. And seeing the car in the world gives it an extra edge, it’s better than just an item in the UI.”
Orton agrees, saying: “Yes, there’s something special about seeing the car in the world itself. There’s a certain allure to it.”
Orton sees the addition of seamless open-world Time Attack and drag racing, along with the Link Skill system, as an evolution of the Horizon Life shared-world feature that debuted in Forza Horizon 4.
“That completely changed the way you experience Horizon. When there are real players, you get unexpected fun and a little bit of the randomness that comes from having real people present, which can’t be recreated anywhere else. That’s the energy we wanted to capture and continue to improve. So, with things like Time Attack and our Link Skill system, we’re actually creating systems that bring players together so we get more of those fun encounters between them.”
With things like Time Attack and our Link Skill system, we’re actually creating systems that bring players together so we get more of those fun encounters between them.
“And we know that a large number of players spend their time in that state, in that open-world space with other players. So we knew there were players we could deliver features to. And, in fact, it was a bit of a convergence of two ideas: we know there are players in this space, and we know we want to bring them together through systems that simply encourage them to drive, roam, and explore.”
“And I think one final point is that the players who spend their time in that space, we wanted to give them more ways to earn credits and experience points. Previously, the best way to do that was to enter a specific event and load into it and so on. But now, if you stay in that space and continue setting laps in Time Attack or participating in drag meetups, you’ll earn credits and experience points just by doing that. And that was another reason too. Because you’ll suddenly get more credits, and you can buy more cars, and buy more aftermarket cars. And so your garage grows. And then you start seeing the diversity of driving experiences we offer, all within the same space.”
IGN will be providing more coverage of Forza Horizon 6 throughout March, including an in-depth look at the game’s Japan-inspired map, a preview of the game’s new customization system, and more.
