Forza Horizon 6 Dev Is Hardware Banning Pirates for Life, but It Faces an Uphill Battle Plugging the Leak
IGN • • technology
Key Points:
- Playground Games, developer of Forza Horizon 6, is enforcing strict bans, including hardware bans, on individuals accessing the leaked game build prior to its official release on May 19.
- The leak involved 155GB of game files appearing on SteamDB days before early access, though Playground denies it resulted from a Steam pre-load error and suggests the leak came from someone with early access, like a reviewer.
- One pirate who posted gameplay footage reported receiving a hardware ban until the year 9999 but later posted more videos using alternate accounts, claiming they remain able to play online despite the ban.
- SteamDB clarified it only displayed the file list due to a token dumper and is not responsible for the leak or distribution of game files.
- Despite the leak, Forza Horizon 6 remains highly anticipated, ranking as the second top-selling game by revenue on Steam and the third most-wishlisted, with no announced changes to its official launch plans.