Playground Games has released a significant new update for Forza Horizon 6 on Xbox and PC, addressing several key issues that have been affecting the player base. The patch, which arrived on June 15, 2026, includes fixes for AI behavior, road discovery, drag tires, and leveling progression, along with a free 2021 McLaren Sabre as a goodwill gesture.
Key Fixes and Improvements
The update tackles four major problems that have been frustrating players. Drivatar race start behavior has been adjusted, and difficulty balancing has been refined. The Region Overview now displays a percentage for roads driven, and two road nodes that were never marked as undiscovered have been fixed. Additionally, discrepancies between the Mini Map and World Map have been resolved.
Leveling Changes
A notable change reduces the XP required between Levels 26 and 100 in Horizon Play, allowing players to reach the top level faster. According to the official patch notes, players who have already made significant progress (Level 25 and above) will see their level jump significantly and unlock new Badges. Those who have reached Level 32 will jump to Level 100, unlocking Badges and the 'Maxed Out' Achievement.
Drag Tire Physics Adjustments
Drag tires have been rebalanced to align with their expected behavior. Previously, drag tires were reducing Performance Index significantly while still providing enough lateral grip for events outside of drag racing. The update ensures drag tires are no longer the optimal choice outside drag racing events, while retaining their PI cost so existing tunes remain unchanged in PI but have reduced cornering performance.
Fans on Reddit have expressed relief, with one user stating, 'So happy with the drag tire fix. It was ruining the online experience.' Another added, 'The drag tire change feels like such a 'Ladies and Gentlemen, we got 'em' moment.'
Free Car Reward
A separate hotfix addressing an exploit used to inflate credit balances has been rolled out, and as a gesture of goodwill, players will receive a 2021 McLaren Sabre once the hotfix goes live.
Full Patch Notes for Series 2 Update
General
- Performance and stability fixes.
- Fixed an issue where launching the game after running Benchmark Mode would take longer than expected.
AI
- Improvements to difficulty balancing.
- Fixed an issue with Drivatar race start behavior.
Audio
- Improvements to audio performance on lower specification devices.
- Adjusted the volume of the air vents on the 2010 Lamborghini Murciélago LP 670-4 SV.
Badge
- Fixed an issue with the Screechy Clean Badge where progress would only count during a Touge Event.
Design
- Fixed an issue where the Leaderboards would sometimes display the wrong drivetrain.
- Fixed an issue with Convoy Leaderboards where times may not appear consistently for all players in the Convoy at Drag Meets and Time Attack Circuits.
Festival Playlist
- Fixed an issue where some Daily Challenges and a Seasonal Job could be completed ahead of time.
- Fixed an issue where completed Weekly Challenges in a previous Season would be missing the Completed label.
- Fixed an issue where various Daily Challenges across the Seasons did not unlock for some players.
Horizon Play
- Fixed an issue where some players did not unlock Level 12 in Horizon Play until they entered another race Event.
- Adjustments have been made to the amount of XP required between Level 26 and Level 100 in Horizon Play. This will significantly reduce the time required to earn the 'Maxed Out' Achievement.
- Added a Roads Driven percentage to the Region Overview.
- Fixed an issue where two road nodes would never be marked as Undiscovered.
- Fixed inconsistencies in Road Discovery between the Mini Map and World Map.
Visuals
- Fixed graphical corruption noticeable in some loading screen transitions on XBOX Series X|S, especially in Horizon Stories and after completing the Monthly Rivals Event.
- Fixed a motion blur artefact appearing along the rear of the 2001 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI GSR TM Edition.
- Fixed an issue with inconsistent lighting that occurred when switching between times of day in Photo Mode.
- Fixed an issue where green artefacts could be seen when trying to take a photo through a metal mesh fence.
- Fixed an issue where rain particles were disabled in the 'High' Graphics Preset on PC.
- Improvements to the pixelated red smoke appearing in Street Races when using upscaling.
Upgrades & Tuning
- Adjustments have been made to the physics of Drag Tires to align them more with their expected behavior.
