The release of Forza Horizon 6 in early May 2026 was met with acclaim—the Japanese racing hit was a resounding success. But, as it turns out, Playground Games didn’t pull off this massive virtual tourism attraction alone. Virtuos had a hand in the game’s creation. Yes, the same team currently toiling away on The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered.
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Who actually built the Japanese map?
The contribution of third-party developers was monumental. Virtuos representatives explained that their internal team at Glass Egg worked shoulder to shoulder (although it’s not listed, so “together” is used as it’s close in meaning to the “together” in the list; or by “adjusting the processes accordingly”) with the franchise creators and specialists from Turn 10 Studios. In essence (replaced by “essentially”), the outsourcers became a fully-fledged division of the main team.
They designed and polished all nine biomes in the new location. And that’s not all. Almost 90% of the car models players now drive were created by them. The scale of their work is impressive.
The Third Successful Collaboration between Playground Games and Virtuos
This isn’t the first joint project for the studios (replacing “joint race”). They worked together brilliantly on the fourth and fifth installments. The main goal this time was to deliver an uncompromising visual experience. Smooth scalability, incredible attention to detail (replacing “attention to detail” with “accuracy” or “scrupulous” approaches)—all to ensure the local landscapes truly breathe life.
For Virtuos itself, this release was another ace up its sleeve. The studio has confirmed its status as one of the most powerful co-development partners in the gaming industry.
