Forza Horizon 6 It was decided to make some structures and trees of cultural significance in Japan indestructible. This decision was made after several other AAA games also set in Japan, such as: Forza Horizon 6It faced criticism for its depiction of sacred elements, which some Japanese found disrespectful.
One recent example is Assassin's Creed Shadow. Despite the game's financially successful release, Ubisoft faced initial criticism for allowing players to destroy some of the shrine's sacred artifacts. Some Japanese politicians also raised concerns about the feature, which eventually led to the developer apologizing and making adjustments to make such cultural items indestructible at the time.
One Forza Horizon 6 player reportedly banned for nearly 8,000 years
A gamer who modified Forza Horizon 6 before its official release has reportedly been banned from playing the game for 8,000 years.
Forza Horizon 6 chooses respect over realism.
in Forza Horizon 6Players cannot demolish cherry blossom trees. Other trees can be destroyed, but cherry blossom trees cannot. Such a choice may go against the series' highly immersive nature, but there's a good reason behind it. Forza Horizon 6Torben Ellert, design director of
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Certain temples or other cultural elements are also excluded so that players are not tempted to drive by shrines or places of cultural significance.
“Certain temples or other cultural elements are also excluded so that players are not tempted to drive by culturally significant shrines or places,” Ellert told The Japan Times. one reason Forza Horizon 6 Paying very close attention to details like this is the game's cultural consultant, Kyoko Yamashita. Yamashita was instrumental in helping developer Playground Games research Japanese values and beliefs, which may have influenced the decision to protect certain elements of the game. Forza Horizon 6world of
Why Forza Horizon 6 pays special attention to trees
For those wondering why trees need to be treated differently in games, the answer lies in Japanese spiritual beliefs. According to Glenn Moore and Cassandra Atherton, two university professors who have studied the transformation of Japan's old trees, some trees were “marked with sacred ropes called shimenawa, warning that anyone who cut them down would have to deal with angry spirits.” Forza Horizon 6The Japanese-inspired map doesn't allow players to damage trees, though it can't mark every unbreakable tree or vengefully chase away reckless drivers.
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Forza Horizon 6's fan base didn't seem particularly bothered by the decision. Some players appreciated that the game had dense forest areas where most trees and objects were still breakable. In some of the previous forza horizon One common complaint with the game was the way certain trees and obstacles would suddenly stop the player after a collision. This seems to be less of an issue this time around, as developer Playground Games has made most of the plants destructible. These changes appear to have helped balance the decision to preserve the cherry blossom trees and a few other objects.
As of this writing, Early Access data suggests that most Forza Horizon 6 Reviews were positive. It has received over 12,000 user reviews on Steam alone, with over 70% recommending it to other players. That doesn't mean the game has completely avoided criticism, but most complaints focus on performance issues and crashes rather than insensitivity to the setting.
- released
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May 19, 2026
- ESRB
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All / Light Lyrics, User Interaction, In-Game Purchases
- publisher
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Xbox Game Studios
