Forza Horizon 6
Responsibilities:
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Designed 100km of open-world traversal across two biomes and two POIs, producing multiple layout passes to improve navigation, pacing and player readability.
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Owned 14 launch levels, including six onboarding levels, refining layouts to improve fairness, sightline clarity and player guidance.
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Produced first-pass layouts for 12 additional levels, translating 2D designs into playable spaces that communicated design intent and reduced downstream iteration.
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Collaborated with Environment Art, Game Design, Engineering and QA to resolve production blockers, iterate on feedback and deliver stable, player-facing content.
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Resolved 550+ level design bugs and authored clear design documentation to support production and maintain content quality through to ship.
What I Learned:
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Designing open-world spaces requires balancing player freedom with clear guidance, pacing and environmental readability.
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Frequent playtesting and cross-discipline feedback are essential for refining layouts and improving the overall player experience.
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Effective communication and documentation are just as important as design skills for delivering content within a large AAA production pipeline.
Open World:
Owned several open‑world regions and iterated traversal routes extensively through playtesting and feedback, applying a fun‑first design philosophy to ensure every road felt purposeful, readable and engaging to explore.
Minamino Region:
This region consists of low mountains, flat farmland and the Cedar Forest POI.
Shimanoyama Region:
This region consists of low mountains and flat farmland, as well as the stadium POI.
PR Stunts:
PR Stunts in Forza Horizon are open-world driving challenges designed to test speed and drifting abilities, rewarding players with stars, accolades and leaderboard rankings.
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Speed Traps: Drive past a camera at the highest speed possible.
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Speed Zones: Maintain the highest possible average speed between two points.
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Drift Zones: Perform controlled slides within a designated area to rack up points.
Races:
Owned the polish for 15 launch levels across multiple biomes, iterating layouts and readability through continuous playtesting and feedback to ensure every event felt busy, visually clear and fun‑first in its moment‑to‑moment experience.
Electric Town / The First Act (Asphalt Circuit):
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Expect long straits and square corners in this whistle-stop tour around Tokyo City. This race is used as a soft introduction to circuit racing at the beginning of the game.
Shirikawa (Asphalt Circuit):
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A short technical circuit with plenty of long, sweeping corners that keep the pace fast.
Daikoku (Asphalt Circuit):
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The extra wide roads on this fast-paced circuit provide plenty of opportunities to overtake.
Horizon Inivtational (Wrist Band Event):
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Join the Horizon Festival. Completing the Horizon Invitational awards the Yellow Wristband.
Edogawa Cross Country Circuit (Cross Country):
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Race around Tokyo City as you tackle jumps, split carriageways and a trick final hairpin that can make or break your race position.
Shimanoyama Circuit (Asphalt Circuit):
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A purpose-built Drift circuit that always draws a crowd with its free-flowing turns. Send it!
Oyashirazu Trail (Dirt Point-to-Point):
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A challenging trail that mixes flat-out speed sections with sudden technical corner sequences.
Nukabira Trail (Dirt Point-to-Point):
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A hill climb leads high up into the Sotoyama Region before a breathless downhill charge on the back half of the Trail.
The Colossus (Finale Event / Asphalt Point-to-Point):
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One colossal lap around the entire highway loop.
The Gauntlet (Finale Event / Dirt Point-to-Point):
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A trail that stretches across the horizon; endurance is your friend here.
Airfield Trail (Dirt Point-to-Point):
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Navigate the uneven, loose surfaces as you head near the airfield for a high-speed push on the asphalt roads to the finish.
Snow Forest Cross Country Circuit (Cross Country):
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Take on the slopes around the Sotoyama Ski Resort in this fast-paced Cross-Country Circuit.
Sotoyama Circuit (Dirt Circuit):
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Race on the asphalt and on loose surfaces around the Sotoyama Ski Resort.
Kinkaku-ji Trail (Dirt Point-to-Point):
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This trail leads through a valley of trees and past Kinkaku-ji Temple, before entering into an asphalt sprint to the finish.
