Forza Horizon 6, the most anticipated racing game of the year, has just jumped the lights. Although it’s not out until May 19 (or May 15 for early access players), its game files were temporarily (and mistakenly) released in unencrypted form on Steam recently, allowing hackers to rip the game and distribute pirated versions.
However, the risks of trying to play the illegally distributed pre-release build are serious. Remember those old ‘you wouldn’t download a car’ anti-piracy ads at the beginning of every 2000s DVD? Well, those words are as relevant as ever.
Content creators have released videos of themselves playing Forza Horizon 6 early, because of course they have. One of them shared communication from the Forza team letting them know they’ve been served a 69,895,509-hour ban, and are eligible to play the game again after December 31 in the year 9999.
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Which is a shame, because FH6 looks set to uphold the high standard the series has achieved consistently since it first came to our hard drives in 2012. This one’s in Japan, it features a massive world map with the biggest urban area the series has ever offered, and brings new gymkhana-style Horizon Rush events.
How this happened is unclear. Did someone at Playground Games lean on the cartoonishly giant ‘do not pull until May 19’ lever installed right in the middle of their office? We’re not ones for baseless assumptions, but yes, we’re saying that’s definitely what happened here.
NOTE: This story first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
