Forza Horizon 6 Developers Explain Rules Banning Anime Liveries and Seductive Clothing

Players are unhappy with the developers’ stance on content moderation.

A wave of bans hit Forza Horizon 6 in September. Moderators turned their attention to custom car liveries featuring anime characters. Many players grew angry at the time because the game’s setting takes place in Japan, yet “itasha” (decorating cars with anime, manga, and video game characters) was banned.

Playground Games recently published a statement on social media addressing the bans on players who created car liveries. According to the reports, players created more than 12.5 million materials over the past month. Meanwhile, the number of reports submitted during the same period reached 21,900 (about 0.1%). Only 3% of the reports led to penalties affecting fewer than 700 users. In most cases, the matter was limited to a warning or a temporary ban. Out of all accounts that received penalties, only 7% (around 50 accounts) were permanently banned because they used nudity in their designs.

The developers of Forza Horizon 6 provided several examples of unacceptable content. Elements such as a “languid gaze,” “slightly parted lips,” and “seductive clothing” were mentioned. Decisions on taking action are based not only on how revealing an outfit is, but also on a combination of factors that create a sexualized character image. For example, depicting a bikini on a beach is acceptable if the overall composition and character pose do not look provocative.

Playground Games also noted that AI is not used when reviewing designs.