Forza Horizon 6 Is Getting a Drift Mode That Might Actually Feel Like Drifting
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Forza Horizon 6 is about to give the drifting community something a little more interesting than another stretch of road and a high-score counter.
On September 7, Playground Games is adding Drift Attack, a new Shared World experience that turns the Shimanoyama Circuit into a permanent playground for anyone who would rather see their ride sideways. The concept is pretty simple: take the scoring mechanics of Horizon Drift, mix in the competitive structure of Time Attack, and let players attack the course for as many laps as they want.
The big difference between Drift Attack and the existing Drift Zones is that this isn't just about sliding through a predetermined section of road and watching the number climb. Players will enter the circuit through a gantry directly from the open world, with no loading screen, and then start stacking points. The track also introduces Clipping Zones, which provide additional scoring opportunities when a driver manages to keep the car inside the marked boundaries while drifting.
Image courtesy of Playground Games
Basically, it's a drift course built around the same kind of precision that makes real world drift competition interesting. Get the car in the right place, keep it there, and make it count.
There is also no apparent need to worry about completing the course in a certain number of laps. Drift Attack keeps going until you decide you're done, meaning the challenge becomes less about putting down a single run and more about figuring out just how much score you can squeeze out of the car.
Forza has always had a strange relationship with drifting. On one hand, the series has become a pretty massive gateway into car culture, especially for players who may never have touched a real drift car. On the other, the game's scoring system can sometimes turn drifting into little more than holding angle and chasing a high score. Drift Attack seems designed to push things a little closer toward an actual course.
Image courtesy of Playground Games
The competitive side is there, too. Drift Attack will feature in-world and Convoy leaderboards, along with drivetrain specific leaderboard filtering. That last part could become particularly interesting once players start figuring out which combinations actually work best for the course. Because let's be honest, if you give a bunch of Forza players a score counter and a permanent drift circuit, it won't take long before someone discovers the most ridiculous possible combination of horsepower, tire compound, gearing and drivetrain. Then everyone else will copy it.
Drift Attack will also tie into the Horizon Festival Campaign, where players can unlock a customized 1990 Jaguar XJ-S Forza Edition built specifically with drifting in mind. A standard version of the XJ-S will also be available through the Autoshow.
The Shimanoyama Circuit itself will be permanent, while Playground Games says future series updates could bring additional Evolving World Drift Attacks. A single permanent drift course is cool, but multiple courses appearing throughout the world over time could be considerably cooler. If Playground Games actually leans into the idea and builds different layouts around different styles of driving, Drift Attack could become more than another monthly activity. It could give the game's drift community somewhere to hang out and compete without having to constantly chase whatever the latest playlist objective happens to be.
Image courtesy of Playground Games
There is a difference between having drifting in a racing game and giving drifting enough structure that players can actually get obsessive about it. Drift Attack might be a step in that direction. We'll find out on September 7, when everyone gets to turn off the traction control assists, put down the first few laps and start arguing about leaderboard scores.
