Oops! Microsoft possibly just leaked Xbox's Forza Horizon 6 release date with an in-game pop-up — here's when the big open-world racer might come out

Forza Horizon 5.

One of Microsoft's biggest first-party Xbox franchises is the racing series Forza, with its publishing wing Xbox Game Studios releasing both the competitive sim racer Forza Motorsport and the open-world arcade-style title Forza Horizon.

Forza Horizon 6, Playground Games' next entry in the latter subseries that's coming to Xbox and PC later this year (and PS5 at some point after that), is scheduled to get a deep dive at the upcoming Xbox Developer Direct showcase on January 22. This is also when it's expected that Microsoft will reveal the title's official release date — but notably, a new leak may have just spoiled that detail entirely.