Forza Horizon 6: Can You Get Out of Your Car and Walk Around?

TL;DR

• No, you cannot walk around on foot in Forza Horizon 6. Japan is explored by car only.
• You can use Drone Mode to fly the camera freely around the map.
• At Car Meet spots, you can place your character outside the car in Photo Mode.
• At player houses, the Customizable Garage lets you move your character around inside.
• These are the only ways to “be outside your car” in FH6.

The Short Answer: No, You Cannot Walk Around in Forza Horizon 6

Forza Horizon 6 is a driving game. That sounds obvious, but plenty of players come in expecting something closer to an open-world RPG where you can step out of the vehicle and wander the streets of Tokyo on foot. That is not how this game works.

You cannot exit your car and roam freely. You cannot run down the road, talk to NPCs, or interact with the environment as a walking character. Japan is yours to explore — but only from behind the wheel. Every road, every mountain pass, every neon-lit city block is designed to be seen at speed.

That said, there are a few smart workarounds. You can get your camera outside the car, and in specific locations you can even get your character outside the car for photos. Here is how each one works.

Method 1: Drone Mode — Free Camera Roaming

Drone Mode is the closest thing to walking around that Forza Horizon 6 offers. It lets you detach the camera from your car and fly it freely around the map. You can go quite far from where you parked, explore the surrounding terrain, and get a proper bird’s-eye view of Japan’s landscape.

How to Activate Drone Mode

There are two ways to activate it depending on your platform:

• Xbox controller: Press D-pad Down, then D-pad Up.
• PC keyboard: Press C to open ANNA, then press 1 to launch Drone Mode.
• Pause menu: Go to My Horizon and select Drone Mode from the right column.

Once you are in Drone Mode, the camera floats free and you can fly it anywhere. It is genuinely useful — not just for sightseeing. Many players use it to scout Barn Find locations before driving to them, or to spot XP Boards sitting on hard-to-reach ledges before committing to a tricky route.

It is also a great tool when you want to appreciate Japan’s scenery without the pressure of actually driving. The views from above around the mountain passes, Mount Fuji, and the Tokyo skyline are genuinely impressive when you slow down to look.

Method 2: Photo Mode at Car Meets — Character Outside the Car

If you want your actual player character to appear outside the car — not just the camera — you need to visit one of the Car Meet spots scattered around Japan’s map.

How It Works at Car Meets

1. Find a Car Meet location on your map and drive there.
2. Park up when you arrive.
3. Open Photo Mode — press D-pad Up on Xbox or P on PC.
4. Inside Photo Mode, go to Effects Mode.
5. Scroll down to find the Drivers, Character, and Emote options.

From here you can place your avatar inside or outside the vehicle, adjust their pose, and even trigger emotes to make them strike a cool stance — or a ridiculous one. You can also change time of day and weather, and clear out the surrounding crowd for a cleaner shot.

This is not free-roam walking. Your character stands in one position. But it does give you the visual of your driver standing beside their car on a Japanese street, which is something a lot of players want for screenshots. For a full breakdown of everything Photo Mode can do, check out our Forza Horizon 6 Photo Mode guide.

Method 3: Player Houses and the Customizable Garage

Once you start buying player houses, each property you own comes with a Customizable Garage. Inside this garage, you can move your character around freely — similar to how you can at Car Meets.

To access it, fast travel to any house you own, then select the Customizable Garage option from the menu. Choose View Garage, and from there you will also find a Photo Mode option in the bottom left corner of the screen. Your personal garage becomes a private photography studio where you can shoot your builds without any crowd in the background.

According to Playground Games, players can also move around freely in other players’ garages using a drone camera. When you visit someone else’s garage, you will see their character placed exactly where the owner decided to position them. It is a neat social touch that makes garages feel lived-in.

If you haven’t started buying houses yet, we have a full breakdown of all eight properties in our Forza Horizon 6 houses guide — all locations and perks. The cheapest house costs just 10,000 Credits, so there’s no reason to wait.

Why Can’t You Walk Around in Forza Horizon 6?

Forza Horizon has always been a pure driving game at its core. Playground Games builds every system — the roads, the terrain, the weather, the physics — around the experience of being in a car. Adding a full on-foot traversal system would be a completely different game with completely different development priorities.

That said, the community has been vocal about wanting it. There are active threads on the official Forza forums where players have asked for full on-foot mode, passenger seat multiplayer, and deeper social spaces. Whether Playground considers it for a future update or a sequel remains to be seen.

For now, Drone Mode is the best answer to that desire. It gives you the freedom to explore visually without the constraint of a vehicle, even if your feet never technically touch the ground.

What Can You Actually Do Outside Your Car in FH6?

Here is a clean summary of every way you can interact with the world from outside your vehicle:

• Drone Mode: Fly the free camera anywhere on the map from the pause menu or via ANNA.
• Car Meet Photo Mode: Place your character outside the car with custom poses and emotes.
• Customizable Garage Photo Mode: Do the same inside your owned player houses.
• Visiting other garages: Use the drone camera to fly around other players’ garage builds.

None of these let you walk. But they do give you meaningful camera and character freedom in specific contexts. For a game built entirely around driving, that is more flexibility than most people expect.

Tips for Getting the Most Out of Drone Mode and Photo Mode

• Use Drone Mode to scout before you drive. Before heading to a Barn Find or a Treasure Car location, fly the drone in first to confirm the spot.
• Pair Photo Mode with Car Meets for the best character shots. Car Meets are the only outdoor spots where your driver can appear outside the vehicle.
• Use your garage for clean car photography. No NPCs, no distractions — just your build and the background you designed.
• Photography earns XP. Every new car you photograph gives Festival XP through the Horizon Promo system. Don’t just drive past great shots.
• Change weather and time of day in Effects Mode. You can make a midday photo look like a rainy evening shoot without leaving the car meet spot.

If photography is something you want to build into your regular gameplay loop, our Photo Mode guide covers the best locations across Japan, all the camera controls, and how to earn rewards through Horizon Promo shots.

Will On-Foot Mode Ever Come to Forza Horizon 6?

There is no confirmed plan for walking or on-foot exploration in Forza Horizon 6. Playground Games has not announced any update or DLC that would add this feature. Community requests exist, but nothing official has been said.

What Playground has expanded in FH6 is the social and customization space around garages and The Estate. You can now explore garages with a drone, build full environments through EventLab, and collaborate on builds through Horizon CoLab. It is a different kind of freedom — creative rather than physical — but it does push the boundaries of what you can do beyond just driving.

If you want to get the most out of everything FH6 has to offer while you wait for any future updates, start with the beginner’s guide from Tourist to Legend. It covers how the full progression system works so you can unlock everything efficiently — houses, events, treasure cars, and more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to dive into Forza Horizon 6? Pick up the game on PC via Steam, Xbox, or PlayStation, and explore the full Japan map from the only seat that matters — the driver’s seat.