160GB on PC? Forza Horizon 6 Preloads Are Huge

One hundred and sixty gigabytes. On an SSD. That's what Playground Games is asking PC players to clear out before they can preload Forza Horizon 6, which went gold today and is now available for predownload on Xbox Series X|S and PC via the Xbox app. Steam preloads are coming soon but don't have a specific date yet.

The storage requirements were buried inside a broader announcement on Forza.net covering the game's gold status, soundtrack reveal, and accessibility features. But the numbers jumped out immediately: 160GB on PC, 135GB on Xbox Series X, and 130GB on Xbox Series S. For reference, Forza Horizon 5 launched at roughly 100GB. Japan, apparently, takes up a lot of hard drive.

I'm not going to pretend 160GB is normal. Even in 2026, where install sizes have been creeping upward for years, that number puts Forza Horizon 6 in the same territory as games like Call of Duty that have been rightfully criticized for their bloated footprints. The SSD requirement on PC is the right call for a game built around streaming open-world terrain at speed, but it means anyone running a 1TB drive is handing over roughly a sixth of their total storage to a single racing game. If you're on a 512GB Steam Deck or a budget laptop, this one's a non-starter.

Gold with two weeks to spare

Playground Games confirmed the gold status on X, meaning the game has been finalized for disc production and digital distribution. Going gold a full two weeks before launch is a healthy sign. Too many games in recent years have been pressed to disc days before release, leaving a massive day-one patch to do the heavy lifting. Playground seems to have given itself actual breathing room here, and that deserves recognition.

Preloading is available now for anyone who pre-ordered any edition of the game or has an active Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass membership. If you already had the placeholder file installed, Playground recommends checking for updates to make sure the full game files are downloaded. Early access for Premium Edition and Premium Upgrade owners begins May 15, with the global launch following on May 19.

On the performance side, Playground also confirmed rendering modes for Xbox Series X|S. Series X gets native 4K at 30fps in Quality mode or dynamic 4K at 60fps in Performance mode. Series S runs 1440p at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps, both with dynamic resolution scaling. No surprises there; it's the same quality-versus-framerate split we've seen across the generation. I'd expect the vast majority of players to lock in 60fps and never look back.

The announcement also covered the game's soundtrack, which Playground says is the largest in Horizon history. Nine radio stations span J-pop, drum and bass, rock, hip-hop, synthwave, and classical. The Horizon XS station alone features BABYMETAL, Linkin Park, Spiritbox, Turnstile, ONE OK ROCK, and Rise Against. Horizon Bass Arena leans into electronic with names like Dom Dolla, FISHER, Calvin Harris, and ISOxo. Two new stations, Gacha City Radio and Sub Pop Records, are joining the lineup alongside returning favorites like Hospital Records and Horizon Opus. Spotify playlists for each station are planned before launch.

Playground also detailed new accessibility features including an AutoDrive mode that lets the CPU handle steering, a Proximity Radar for identifying cars in blind spots, and a High Contrast Mode. American and British Sign Language interpretation for cutscenes will arrive in a post-launch update. These are good additions, and the ASL/BSL support in particular is something more studios should be doing.

The 160GB ask is going to be the talking point, though. Storage management has become its own mini-game this generation, and Forza Horizon 6 just made it harder. If the game looks and runs as well as the early footage suggests, most people will make the space. But Playground should be thinking hard about compression and optional installs for players who don't need every language pack or high-resolution texture set downloaded at once. The preload is live now on Xbox and the Xbox PC app, with the Steam preload expected to follow before the May 15 early access window.