Forza Horizon 6 is already pirated after Microsoft accidentally uploaded unencrypted files to Steam

Forza Horizon 6 is already circulating on piracy sites more than a week before its official launch, and Microsoft has only itself to blame. Early Sunday morning, the company accidentally uploaded around 155 GB of unencrypted game files to Steam — a slip that was spotted almost immediately across social media and Reddit.

Steam's standard preload system works by letting players download encrypted files ahead of release, with the decryption key only going live on launch day. Microsoft skipped the encryption part entirely this time, as confirmed by SteamDB tracking the upload. Within hours, Reddit's CrackWatch community reported the copy protection was already cracked, with pirated versions spreading across multiple piracy sites. That initial CrackWatch post was later pulled by Reddit's Legal Operations team, but a second crack was already being discussed on the same subreddit by Monday morning.

It's a painful own-goal for Microsoft — a game that hasn't even launched yet is freely available to anyone willing to look. The company hasn't issued a public statement on the incident.