Critics say Forza Horizon 6 is one of year's best video games

Forza Horizon 6 has overtaken all challengers to become the best-reviewed video game so far this year.

The arcade racer, produced by British studio Playground Games, has received an average score of 91 out of 100, according to review website Metacritic.

Its nearest rivals, Pokémon Pokopia and Resident Evil Requiem, both averaged 89 when they were released earlier this year.

The review scores landed just days after the PC version of Forza was leaked, resulting in threats of bans for those who downloaded and played unauthorised copies.

Horizon 6, due to be released on Xbox consoles and PC from 19 May, is the latest instalment in the hugely popular racing series.

The open-world driving games allow players to speed around roads and environments inspired by real-life locations, with Mexico and the UK providing the backdrop for previous editions.

This time around, the developers have finally taken the series to Japan - something fans have been demanding for years.

In a five-star review, Video Games Chronicle's Chris Scullion said the new setting "makes the most of Japan's diverse scenery".

"The countryside has a number of lovely smaller towns, while shrines are dotted throughout the forests," he wrote.

Scullion praised the challenges on offer, and the variety of experiences the developers had managed to pack into Horizon 6's map, calling it "one of the best racing titles ever made".

TechRadar, in its 4-and-a-half star review, agreed the game's Japan-inspired map was a big improvement on the previous entry's "uninteresting" offering, and praised developers for improving on "almost all" of its shortcomings.

Metro, in its 9 out of 10 review, had similar praise for the game's "giddying rush of fast cars, beautiful landscapes, and pounding music that never lets up".

While critics were generally positive about Horizon 6, many said that it didn't offer a revolutionary take on its established, successful formula, but agreed that the developers had successfully refined it.

Playground Games is one of many studios around the world owned by Xbox maker Microsoft.

Its video game division has been criticised in recent years over widespread layoffs, price increases to its consoles and Game Pass subscription service.

The publisher has also been in search of a hit, after Call of Duty, its biggest series, underperformed last year following poor reviews.

New Xbox boss Asha Sharma has suggested the company might re-evaluate its controversial stance on exclusivity, after it began releasing games that were Xbox only on rival consoles.

As things stand, Horizon 6 is set to be released on PlayStation 5 later this year.

Players getting access to the game a week early had threatened to overshadow its release.

Reports suggested that unencrypted files were uploaded to PC platform Steam, enabling some to "crack" them and play without permission.

Playground Games issued a statement confirming users had accessed the game, but denied it was due to a "pre-load issue", where players can download a title in advance of release.

In a statement the developer said it was "taking strict enforcement action against any individuals found accessing this build including franchise-wide and hardware bans".

Users who uploaded footage of themselves playing the game have since claimed to have received bans set to expire on 31 December in the year 9999.

BBC Newsbeat has approached Playground Games for comment.

Games journalist Wesley Yin-Poole, from website IGN, told Newsbeat the episode was "pretty devastating" for Playground Games and he "felt very sad for the developers".

He said anyone hit with a ban would probably find a way to sidestep it.

"Piracy is an established part of video gaming and publishers face a really tough challenge doing anything meaningful to stop it," he said.

However, Yin-Poole said he didn't think this particular leak would have too much impact on Horizon 6's success, but could be bad for Microsoft's reputation.

"It's not necessarily a game that people are interested in for a story," he said.

"So the spoilers element of a leak isn't really a factor with Forza.

"The data that we have... suggests that Forza Horizon 6 will still be very successful.

"It remains to be seen exactly how damaging [the leak] is."

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