Today’s Xbox Developer Direct Expected To Confirm May Release For Forza Horizon 6

Today’s annual Xbox Developer Direct goes live today at 1 p.m ET, during which the focus is expected to fall heavily on Playground Studios, developers of both Fable and Forza Horizon 6. Both are confirmed to be appearing at the show, alongside GameFreak’s non-Pokémon RPG Beast of Reincarnation, and as Eurogamer reports, it seems we now doubly-know for sure one of the show’s intended surprises: Forza Horizon‘s release date. However, if any other games are to appear, Microsoft has achieved the unlikely and managed to keep it all under wraps.

This isn’t the first time the May 19 release date for FH6 has got out into the wild, although a second source certainly makes it seem all the more likely. Last week a Saudi X account claimed to have seen an accidentally-released trailer for the Japan-set racing game which featured the release date May 19. Eurogamer now adds that renowned leaker billbil-kun has authenticated the date, alongside the blatantly obvious news that the game will release in Standard, Deluxe and Premium forms. Despite only being a few months away, we’ve seen almost nothing of the game beyond being teased about the backdrop of Japanese mountains and other culturally iconic artifacts. Microsoft is promising a “deep-dive” during the Direct, which will include “new features.”

Microsoft also says the Developer Direct livestream will include a “first extended look at Fable,” the relaunching of the action-RPG franchise formerly developed by Lionhead Studios. Despite seemingly having been in some sort of development since perhaps as early as 2017, and confirmed in 2020, this will be the first time anything of depth will have been shown, following 2023’s somewhat obfuscatory trailer featuring Richard Ayoade. No word has leaked about whether we’ll be seeing a release date for the oft-slipping game.

The final announced game is quite the coup for Microsoft (and Sony, it should be said), getting a Game Freak title away from Nintendo for the first time since 2017’s, er, Giga Wrecker. (No, me neither.) That eventually saw a Switch release, meaning the last time the Pokémon developer made a game that didn’t see a Nintendo version was 2015’s Tempo the Badass Elephant, and I think we can all agree: what? Before those two you have to go back to the 1990s. Anyway, action-RPG Beast of Reincarnation is due to come to PC, Xbox and PS5 (and not Switch) at some point in 2026, and today’s show will reveal “details of our protagonist Emma’s innovative plant manipulation actions and gameplay with her canine companion, Koo.”

That’s all that’s confirmed, but I bet my right buttock that at least a fourth game will be snuck in there, even if it’s just a teasing glimpse (which you will not be getting of my right buttock.)

You can catch the entire thing at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) via Xbox’s YouTube and Twitch channels, or just stare at the embed below for the next few hours.