New rumors suggest Forza Horizon 5 may head to Mexico later this year

What you need to know

• Forza Horizon 5 will likely be the follow-up to the excellent open-world racing Forza Horizon series from Xbox Game Studios.
• Previous leaks suggested that Forza Horizon 5 may be set in Japan, but new rumors indicate that this may not be true.
• We've heard from trusted sources that Forza Horizon 5 could be set in Mexico, but be sure to take this with a grain of salt.
• We still haven't heard any official confirmation from Playground Games, and we'll have to wait for an announcement to know for sure.

Playground Games has yet to say anything concrete about Forza Horizon 5, to the point where we can't even be 100% certain that it exists (it almost certainly does). In place of official announcements from the Forza Horizon team at Xbox Game Studios, Forza fans have had to make do with unofficial leaks, rumors, and speculation. For a while, many Forza fans have hoped with bated breath that Forza Horizon 5 is taking the series to Japan, due to an alleged map leak, but new rumors suggest this may not be the case.

Could Forza Horizon 5 be heading to Mexico?

Our own Senior Editor Jez Corden not-so-subtly hinted on Twitter that Forza Horizon 5 could potentially head to Mexico for its next locale, and noted industry insider Jeff Grubb responded with a tease of his own. While we don't yet have hard evidence confirming that Forza Horizon 5 is actually heading to Mexico, we can at least say that we've heard from trusted sources that it could indeed be the case. Be sure to take all of this with a hefty grain of salt and regard it as another rumor, at least until Playground Games confirms something themselves.

There's also the matter of Forza Horizon 5's release date. Many have speculated that Forza Horizon 5 is being announced and could even release this year, while others have been more hesitant to believe that (especially because of the existence of Forza Motorsport). However, well-known Xbox community member Klobrille took to ResetEra to hint that Forza Horizon 5 could very well make an appearance at this summer's E3 game conference alongside Halo Infinite, Bethesda's Starfield, and Age of Empires IV.

This, combined with other teases, suggests that Forza Horizon 5 is actually due to release this year, likely around the Holidays. The above tweet from Grubb saying "That's right. Not Japan." in response to the above post speculating a 2021 release in a different location teases a 2021 launch and a setting in Mexico, corroborating our own information on the topic.

Forza Horizon 5 may be set in Mexico, and it may release in 2021. We'll simply have to wait for an official announcement from Playground Games and Xbox Game Studios (possibly during E3) to learn more about what to expect from Forza Horizon 5.

Regardless, we're fairly positive that Forza Horizon 5 will end up being one of the best games on Xbox. In fact, its likely inclusion on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, and even Xbox Game Pass may also make it one of the best Xbox Game Pass games and best PC games.