TL;DR
- Horizon Play is the unified multiplayer hub in Forza Horizon 6, replacing Horizon Open from FH5.
- Modes include Spec Racing, Touge Showdown, The Eliminator, Hide & Seek, Horizon Racing, Horizon Drift, Custom Racing, and Custom Drifting.
- Horizon Play has its own ranking system — 100 levels total, with a Badge earned every 10 ranks.
- Every level up to Level 25 grants Horizon Festival Points toward your Wristband progression.
- Online play directly advances your single-player campaign — you do not have to choose between the two.
- Series Standing Leaderboards reset each time a new Festival Playlist Series begins.
- Up to 72 players share the open world at once; Convoys are capped at 12.
If you don’t own a console, you can play via Xbox Cloud Gaming.
What Is Horizon Play in Forza Horizon 6?
Horizon Play is the dedicated multiplayer hub in Forza Horizon 6. It replaces the Horizon Open structure from Forza Horizon 5 and serves as the single entry point for every competitive and cooperative online mode in the game. All modes are accessed from one clean menu, with a visible XP bar and player level displayed at all times.
Up to 72 players share the open world at the same time. Convoys — groups of friends exploring or competing together — are capped at 12 players. Competitive modes launch directly from the Horizon Play menu without long loading screens or lobby waits.
Horizon Play is one of three progression systems in FH6. The other two are Wristbands for Festival racing and Discover Japan Stamps for exploration. All three run in parallel and feed into each other. Horizon Play is designed for players who prefer online competition, but it is built so that even an exclusively online player still makes meaningful progress in the campaign.
How the Horizon Play Ranking System Works
Horizon Play has its own dedicated leveling system that runs independently of your player level and your Wristband rank. Here is how it works:
- XP is earned simply by playing any Horizon Play game mode. You do not need to win — just participating earns XP.
- 100 levels total. The ranking system goes from Level 1 to Level 100.
- Badges: you earn one new Badge every 10 ranks, giving a total of 10 standard Badges across the full 100 levels.
- Mode Milestones: additional Badges unlock by completing a set number of events within each specific Horizon Play game mode — for example, winning a certain number of Spec Races or reaching The Eliminator finals multiple times. Earning Skills in online modes also contributes to these milestone unlocks.
- Series Standing Leaderboards: each game mode has its own leaderboard showing the top performers for the current series. When a new Festival Playlist Series begins, all Series Standing Leaderboards reset. This keeps competition fresh and gives every player a clean slate each series.
Badges are cosmetic rank markers that display on your profile. They show other players how deep into Horizon Play you have gone and which modes you have mastered.
It is worth noting that reaching Level 100 is a very long grind. Unlike Forza Horizon 5 where the equivalent took 5–10 hours, FH6 uses an exponential XP curve that makes the upper ranks genuinely challenging to reach. Winning earns more XP than finishing lower, so consistent strong results in competitive modes is the fastest path.
How Horizon Play Feeds Into Campaign Progression
This is one of the most important features in Horizon Play. Every level you earn in Horizon Play, up to Level 25, grants Horizon Festival Points toward your next Wristband. This means playing online multiplayer directly advances your single-player campaign. You do not have to choose between grinding festivals and playing with friends.
If you mainly play online, you can still make meaningful Wristband progress purely through Horizon Play — up to Level 25. After that, the crossover stops and additional Horizon Play levels no longer generate Festival Points, but the level cap of 100 and the Badge system continue to give online players long-term goals.
There are also additional rewards obtainable from Horizon Play engagement that benefit campaign progression beyond just the Festival Points. These stack on top of your normal race winnings and keep the two systems tightly connected.
All Horizon Play Game Modes Explained
Spec Racing
Spec Racing is one of the biggest new additions to FH6’s online competitive scene. In this mode, every player drives the exact same car with identical stock upgrades, the same tyres, and the same setup. There are no performance advantages from garage depth, no meta builds, and no edge from spending credits on upgrades. It is pure driving skill.
This mode was a long-running community request — a fair, skill-first racing environment where the only variable is who drives better. The car pool rotates weekly. One week you race in identical Mazda MX-5s on a mountain pass; the next you are in matching GT-Rs on the C1 loop. Adapting quickly to different cars is the real skill challenge here.
Spec Racing Championships are also available, running as multi-round competitions within the mode. These reward more XP than individual races and are one of the best ways to climb the Horizon Play rankings quickly.
Touge Showdown
Touge Showdown is a dedicated 1v1 format built entirely around Japan’s mountain pass culture. Two players race on one of five preset winding routes in a lead and chase format. This is the most Japanese-flavoured competitive experience in any Forza game.
How it works:
- Round 1: Player A leads, Player B chases. The chaser earns points for staying close to the leader’s line. The leader earns points for clean driving and maintaining distance.
- Round 2: Players swap roles.
- A full Touge Showdown is three races across the championship. The highest combined score across both roles wins.
The five preset routes rotate through continuous online matchmaking, so there is always a match available. These passes are tight and technical — blind corners, elevation drops, and guardrails punish imprecise driving. Knowing the route is half the battle. Crashing into the leader as a chaser costs you points. Going off-road as a leader gives the chaser free distance. Clean, fast, and controlled driving wins every time.
For car and tuning advice specific to these events, see our best cars for Touge Battles guide, our full Touge Battle mode guide, and the individual route breakdowns for Bandai Azuma Touge, Hakone Nanamagari Touge, and Mt Haruna Touge.
The Eliminator
The Eliminator is the returning open-world battle royale mode from Horizon 4 and 5. All players start in the same car — a 1984 Honda City — giving every match an equal, chaotic opening phase. From there the action unfolds quickly.
Players challenge nearby drivers to head-to-head races. The winner takes the loser’s car or earns an upgrade to a better vehicle. Losers are eliminated. As the play zone shrinks over time, everyone funnels toward the final showdown: a flat-out race to a single finish point. The last driver across wins.
A few things to keep in mind in The Eliminator:
- Do not challenge everyone immediately. See what car they are driving first. A slower car challenging a faster one is a losing bet.
- Picking up car drops scattered across the map is often safer than 1v1 challenges in the early phase.
- The final race rewards map knowledge. Off-road paths, field shortcuts, and gaps in fences can win even with a slightly slower car.
- AWD vehicles perform well because terrain in The Eliminator is unpredictable — you will cross mud, grass, and gravel in every match.
Hide & Seek
Hide & Seek was originally added as a post-launch mode in Forza Horizon 5. In FH6, it is available from day one. One player is the Hider; a group of Seekers tries to track them down before time runs out. The Hider has a head start and must stay hidden across the full Japan map.
Seekers receive periodic radar pings showing the Hider’s general area — not an exact location. Finding and tagging the Hider wins the round for the Seekers. If time runs out without being found, the Hider wins.
For Hiders, the best spots are hard to reach but not impossibly remote — rooftops, dead-end alleys, wooded clearings, and elevated terrain all work well. Staying still is often smarter than moving, because radar pings make mobile Hiders easier to triangulate. For Seekers, spreading out across the search zone is far more effective than driving in a pack. Cover different angles and communicate through proximity voice chat.
Horizon Racing and Horizon Drift
Horizon Racing is the standard free-for-all online race format. Multiple players race across Japan’s road network in open lobbies. It is the most straightforward mode for anyone just looking to race other people without the structured format of Spec Racing or Touge Showdown.
Horizon Drift returns as championship-style drifting scored on precision and style. Events rotate across Japan’s roads and mountain passes. If you want to compete in drift events, having the right car setup makes a significant difference. Our best drift cars and tuning setup guide covers exactly what you need to build a competitive drift machine.
Custom Racing and Custom Drifting
Custom Racing lets you define the rules of your online session. You set the car class, race type, weather, time of day, and collision settings, then invite friends or open it to public matchmaking. This is the go-to mode when your group wants specific conditions — a particular car class, a specific route type, or a ruleset that standard modes do not offer.
Custom Drifting works the same way but specifically for drift events. You choose the car class and drive type, set the route, and other players join. Scoring follows the standard drift zone rules. Both Custom modes feed into your Horizon Play XP and ranking just like every other mode.
Co-Op Play and LINK Skills
Horizon Play is not purely competitive. The open world supports a full cooperative experience alongside the structured competitive modes.
Convoys
A Convoy is a group of up to 12 friends exploring the open world together. Any race event can be entered as a group — AI fills the remaining competitor slots. Convoy members share a credit bonus, so larger groups earn slightly more per race. Co-op championships are available within Convoys, running as multi-race tournaments where your group competes against AI teams. These pay better than solo individual races and are one of the faster ways to earn credits while playing with friends. See our earn credits fast guide for the best methods.
LINK Skills
LINK Skills are a new co-op mechanic added in FH6. The concept is simple: execute a skill — like drifting, a near-miss, or a big jump — alongside another player at the same time, and both players receive a bonus reward. This encourages Convoys to drive in coordinated ways rather than just following each other loosely. LINK Skills generate extra XP and reward points, making group driving sessions meaningfully faster for progression than solo play. The more players in your Convoy executing skills together, the bigger the multiplier.
Shared World Activities
Several open-world events are designed as shared experiences. Time Attack Circuits and Drag Meets are seamlessly part of the open world with no load screens. Players nearby can join automatically, and each event features an in-world leaderboard. Car Meets are player-organized social gatherings at designated parking areas — including the iconic Daikoku in Tokyo City and Okuibuki Parking Lot in the alpines. There are no formal scoring rules at Car Meets; they are purely social spaces for showing off builds and meeting other players.
Horizon Arcade
Horizon Arcade is the co-operative mini-game system that appears as pink circles on the map. It pulls nearby players together automatically to complete a shared challenge before the timer runs out. FH6 expands it to 12 event types, including the new Monsoon Run where a region floods mid-event and forces players to adapt their driving line on the fly. Completing Arcade events earns XP that feeds directly into Horizon Play progression. See our dedicated Horizon Arcade guide for full details on every event type and the best strategies for each.
Horizon CoLab: Multiplayer Event Building
CoLab is the multiplayer version of EventLab, FH6’s custom event builder. Up to 12 players can build custom race events together anywhere in Japan’s open world. You can place props, set routes, design challenge rules, and test them in Free Drive without affecting anyone’s driving line. Undo and Redo are supported, and moveable start grids make track design flexible. Once a creation is finished, it can be shared publicly for the entire FH6 community to play. CoLab is completely separate from the competitive Horizon Play modes — it is purely creative — but its events can feed into the general XP ecosystem once published and played.
Series Standing Leaderboards
Every Horizon Play game mode has its own Series Standing Leaderboard. These show the top-performing players globally for the current series. When a new Festival Playlist Series begins, all leaderboards reset completely. This keeps the competition cycle fresh — no single player can hold a permanent top spot, and every series gives the whole player base an equal starting point to compete for the top ranks. Our seasonal events and Festival Playlist guide covers how series cycles work and what to expect each season.
Tips to Rank Up in Horizon Play Faster
Play Multiple Modes
The fastest XP path in Horizon Play is variety, not grinding one mode. Each mode has first-completion bonuses and milestone rewards that only trigger when you hit specific targets in that specific mode. Playing only Spec Racing maxes out those bonuses quickly and leaves the rewards from Touge Showdown, The Eliminator, and Hide & Seek untouched. Mix your sessions across modes — especially early on when every mode has fresh bonus XP waiting.
Win Consistently in Spec Racing
Spec Racing rewards driving skill more directly than any other mode. Because all cars are equal, finishing positions reflect pure ability. Higher finishing positions give more XP per race. If you want to climb the rankings efficiently through Spec Racing, invest time in learning the weekly car’s handling characteristics before your first session. Brake points and corner entry matter far more here than in modes where power upgrades cover mistakes. Study the best roads and mountain passes guide to know every route cold before racing.
Grind Horizon Play Before Level 25 for Double Progress
The crossover between Horizon Play and Wristband progression only runs to Level 25. Before you hit that ceiling, every level you earn in Horizon Play simultaneously advances your single-player campaign. Early in the game, make the most of this by focusing your online sessions in the first 25 levels. You are earning Horizon Play rank and Wristband Festival Points at the same time — the most efficient period in the entire Horizon Play progression arc.
Use LINK Skills in Convoys
If you play in a Convoy with friends, actively coordinate LINK Skills during your drives. Drifting together, pulling near-misses at the same time, or launching off jumps in sync triggers bonus XP for everyone involved. This is free progression on top of whatever event you are playing, and it stacks with your normal Horizon Play XP gains.
Complete Mode Milestones
Beyond the 10 standard Badges earned at every 10 ranks, additional Badges unlock by completing mode-specific milestones — winning a set number of Spec Races, reaching The Eliminator finals a certain number of times, completing specific Touge Showdown win counts, and so on. These milestones reward dedicated play in each mode and are separate from just grinding XP. Track your milestone progress through the Horizon Play menu and focus on the ones closest to completion first.
Build the Right Cars for Each Mode
Touge Showdown, Horizon Racing, and Custom modes all benefit from having the right car for the job. A well-tuned drift car gives a major advantage in Horizon Drift events. R-class vehicles perform best on the endgame circuits. Check our best cars for every class guide and the complete FH6 cars by class list to build a garage that covers every mode. For the strongest starting options, see our best starter cars to buy first.
Cross-Platform Play and Cross-Save
Forza Horizon 6 is the first game in the series where cross-save extends across all three platforms simultaneously — Xbox Series X|S, PC (Microsoft Store and Xbox App), and PlayStation 5. Your cars, levels, unlocks, and Horizon Play rank all carry across whichever platform you play on. This makes Convoys easier to organize because friends are no longer separated by hardware. Cross-play is fully supported across all platforms from day one.
Where to Play Forza Horizon 6
Forza Horizon 6 is available now on Xbox Series X|S and PC, with PlayStation 5 coming later. Get the game through these official sources:
PC players should check our FH6 PC requirements guide before jumping in. For a full picture of how all three progression systems connect, our beginner’s guide from Tourist to Legend is the best place to start.
