Forza Horizon 6 Launches on PS5
Forza Horizon 6 arrives on PlayStation 5 with preorder details, while RimWorld receives a major engine upgrade promising significant performance gains.
Two distinct stories dominate the gaming landscape this week. The long-awaited PlayStation 5 version of Forza Horizon 6 is now available for preorder ahead of its release. Separately, the acclaimed colony sim RimWorld is undergoing a fundamental engine change designed to dramatically improve performance for its vast modding community.
Forza Horizon 6 PS5 Preorders
Forza Horizon 6 launches for PlayStation 5 on January 26, with preorders live now at major retailers. The standard edition costs $69.99 and includes just the base game, though preordering allows for an upgrade to pricier editions upon release. The game brings the open-world racing series to Japan, featuring over 550 vehicles and the largest map in the franchise's history.
Two digital-only special editions are available directly through the PlayStation Store. The Deluxe Edition is priced at $99.99 and adds a Welcome Pack and a Car Pass. The more comprehensive Premium Edition costs $119.99 and bundles in those extras along with a VIP Membership, two expansions, and two vehicle packs: the Time Attack Car Pack and the Italian Passion Pack. The game has already been available on Xbox Series X|S and PC since May 18, 2026, and received a perfect score in one review. Critic Luke Reilly stated, "Technically, Forza Horizon 6 has not skipped a beat, and it runs like a titan." The PS5 version is expected to deliver an equivalent experience.
RimWorld Engine Overhaul
Ludeon Studios is shifting its sci-fi colony simulator RimWorld from the Unity engine to its own in-house creation, the Waylith Engine. The change will arrive with the game's upcoming Update 1.7 and promises performance improvements of two to four times faster across many metrics. The developers state the game will look and play identically, but everything from startup and load times to map generation will see significant speed boosts.
Remarkably, the studio claims this foundational shift will not break the game's extensive library of community mods. Saves will also carry over from the current version. As an example, the developers noted a modpack with 1500 mods saw its load time drop from 14 minutes to just 6 minutes. The update is currently in beta on Steam, with early user reports corroborating the performance claims, though some note increased RAM usage. The announcement cautions that PCs older than ten years may not run the new version. This move follows a trend of indie developers seeking independence from commercial engine software and its associated business policies.
