Forza Horizon 6 will launch in full May 19 after enjoying its currently ongoing early access period, and then everyone will be able to crash through its idyllic Japan setting like Godzilla in a Ferrari. The racing game lets you crumble nearly everything under your tires, but no matter how hard you hit the gas, the fluffy cherry blossoms will remain pristine. Developer Playground Games decided they were too important to destroy.
As design director Torben Ellert tells The Japan Times in a new interview, Playground wanted to respect Forza fans' highly requested Japan environment by recognizing the cultural sacredness of shrines and sakura, or cherry blossoms, the country's unofficial national flower. While the tissue-paper fragility of sakura is part of what makes them so special in Japan, which treats the spring blooms as a symbol of both renewal and impermanence (and a great photo opportunity), Playground was simply not going to let you wreck their trees with a truck.
