{"id":1929040,"date":"2026-05-11T11:01:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T08:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1929040"},"modified":"2026-05-11T11:01:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T08:01:55","slug":"forza-horizon-6-files-were-accidentally-released-on-steam-early-though-would-be-pirates-are-getting-their-accounts-slammed-with-bans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1929040","title":{"rendered":"Forza Horizon 6 files were accidentally released on Steam early, though would-be pirates are getting their accounts slammed with bans"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/forza-horizon-6\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Forza Horizon 6<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Forza Horizon 6 files were accidentally released on Steam early, though would-be pirates are getting their accounts slammed with bans<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">You wouldn&#8217;t download a car.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/forza-horizon-6-6.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Official Forza Horizon 6 screenshot showing several cars almost neck-and-neck racing towards the camera\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"forza-horizon-6-6.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Xbox Game Studios \/ Playground<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Connor Makar avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/tAtwiaBo_400x400.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"374\" height=\"374\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Connor Makar avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"tAtwiaBo_400x400.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"374\" height=\"374\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/connor-makar\">Connor Makar<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Staff Writer<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-05-11T11:01:55+00:00\">May 11, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/forza-horizon-6-leak-account-banned?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          7 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"b99982ec-ce0c-4c4d-8150-6eb3628f1e8f\" data-name=\"Forza Horizon 6\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Forza Horizon 6\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Forza Horizon 6\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Forza Horizon 6\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Forza Horizon 6\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Forza Horizon 6\" title=\"Follow Forza Horizon 6\"><br \/>\n  Follow Forza Horizon 6<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Files for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/forza-horizon-6\">Forza Horizon 6<\/a> &#8211; the highly anticipated racing release by Playground Games and Microsoft &#8211; have been accidentally released, in full, on Steam ahead of its proper release on the 19th May.<\/p>\n<p>Spotted by keen-eyed users (<a href=\"https:\/\/steamdb.info\/app\/2483190\/history\/\">and still visible on SteamDB<\/a>) the unencrypted files seemingly were uploaded onto the game&#8217;s Steam page. An early upload of game files prior to launch is typical for many game releases, but without proper encryption, they can be accessed earlier than intended allowing for access to the game, which has happened here.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>Here&#8217;s the Forza Horizon 6 launch trailer.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zykeOxdcZkk\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While this error was fixed quickly by Playground Games, this brief window did allow a few people to download the files, resulting in cracked versions appearing online. As such, pirates have been able to access Forza Horizon 6 in full.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Now before some of you get too excited, accessing and playing the game early can come with serious risks. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Rxtot147497\/status\/2053679335190499546\">One screenshot circulating online<\/a> shows one such case, which involves content creator DVS Squad. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4JnnECcYpa8&amp;t=1s\">He uploaded a video<\/a> of himself playing the leaked version of Horza Horizon 6, without blurring out his account name.<\/p>\n<p>The screenshot shows him receiving in-game mail from the Forza Community team, informing them they&#8217;ve been banned for 69,895,509 hours, or until the 31st December, 9999. Eurogamer has checked this creator&#8217;s Discord server, and have verified the screenshot&#8217;s legitimacy.<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft itself has a rich history of dishing out bans to those who pirate games. You can look all the way back to 2009 where it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/microsoft-unapologetic-about-xbox-bans\">initiated a sweeping wave of bans for console modifications<\/a>, which allowed people to access games without buying them. More recently, <a href=\"https:\/\/kotaku.com\/microsoft-punishes-gears-leakers-by-making-their-xbox-o-1704531500\">it permanently banned Gears of War Remake leakers from Xbox One online services<\/a>. The company has a history of not messing around with this stuff.<\/p>\n<p>Playground Games recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/forza-horizon-6-shows-off-largest-ever-map-as-microsoft-confirms-a-may-release\">released a massive breakdown of Forza Horizon 6<\/a>, going into the scale of the map, the types of vehicles available, and the approach to setting a racing game in Japan.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Files for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/forza-horizon-6\">Forza Horizon 6<\/a> &#8211; the highly anticipated racing release by Playground Games and Microsoft &#8211; have been accidentally released, in full, on Steam ahead of its proper release on the 19th May.<\/p>\n<p>Spotted by keen-eyed users (<a href=\"https:\/\/steamdb.info\/app\/2483190\/history\/\">and still visible on SteamDB<\/a>) the unencrypted files seemingly were uploaded onto the game&#8217;s Steam page. An early upload of game files prior to launch is typical for many game releases, but without proper encryption, they can be accessed earlier than intended allowing for access to the game, which has happened here.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>Here&#8217;s the Forza Horizon 6 launch trailer.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zykeOxdcZkk\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While this error was fixed quickly by Playground Games, this brief window did allow a few people to download the files, resulting in cracked versions appearing online. As such, pirates have been able to access Forza Horizon 6 in full.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Now before some of you get too excited, accessing and playing the game early can come with serious risks. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Rxtot147497\/status\/2053679335190499546\">One screenshot circulating online<\/a> shows one such case, which involves content creator DVS Squad. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4JnnECcYpa8&amp;t=1s\">He uploaded a video<\/a> of himself playing the leaked version of Horza Horizon 6, without blurring out his account name.<\/p>\n<p>The screenshot shows him receiving in-game mail from the Forza Community team, informing them they&#8217;ve been banned for 69,895,509 hours, or until the 31st December, 9999. Eurogamer has checked this creator&#8217;s Discord server, and have verified the screenshot&#8217;s legitimacy.<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft itself has a rich history of dishing out bans to those who pirate games. You can look all the way back to 2009 where it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/microsoft-unapologetic-about-xbox-bans\">initiated a sweeping wave of bans for console modifications<\/a>, which allowed people to access games without buying them. More recently, <a href=\"https:\/\/kotaku.com\/microsoft-punishes-gears-leakers-by-making-their-xbox-o-1704531500\">it permanently banned Gears of War Remake leakers from Xbox One online services<\/a>. The company has a history of not messing around with this stuff.<\/p>\n<p>Playground Games recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/forza-horizon-6-shows-off-largest-ever-map-as-microsoft-confirms-a-may-release\">released a massive breakdown of Forza Horizon 6<\/a>, going into the scale of the map, the types of vehicles available, and the approach to setting a racing game in Japan.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Forza Horizon 6 Forza Horizon 6 files were accidentally released on Steam early, though would-be pirates are getting their accounts slammed with bans You wouldn&#8217;t download a car. Image credit: Xbox Game Studios \/ Playground News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on May 11, 2026 7 comments Follow Forza Horizon 6 Files [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1929040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1929040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929040\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1929040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1929040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1929040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}