Forza Horizon 6 Eliminator Guide: Survive and Win the Battle Royale

How The Eliminator works in Forza Horizon 6 — the starter Honda City, car drops and levels, head-to-head horn challenges, the closing zone and Final Showdown — plus tactics to actually finish first and the recent changes players are talking about.

The Eliminator is Horizon’s battle royale, and it splits the player base — some treat it as the most tense mode in the game, others bounce off it fast. Both reactions are fair. It rewards map knowledge and nerve over raw tuning, which is refreshing if you’re sick of the same meta builds, and frustrating if you just want clean racing. Here’s how it actually works and how to come out of it standing.

How the mode works

Up to 72 players drop onto a Japan-inspired arena, and the goal is simple: be the last driver left. Everyone starts in the same 1984 Honda City — a deliberately weak car. From there the loop is: grab a better car, challenge other players one-on-one, win or get eliminated, and stay inside a shrinking play area until a final sprint decides it. There’s no tuning screen and no garage advantage here; what you drive is whatever you’ve picked up on the map.

Car drops are the real currency

Cars appear as icons on the map, each marked with a level from 1 to 10. Drive to one, grab it, and you swap into that car at that level. Your priority for the first minute is upgrading out of the Honda City — get to any Level 3+ drop before you even think about fighting. After that, keep climbing. A higher level generally means a faster car, and players report a Level 8 will beat a Level 4 in almost every head-to-head. You can’t collect drops during an active head-to-head or during the Final Showdown, so bank your upgrades early while the map is still open.

Favour all-wheel drive when you have the choice. The arena mixes tarmac with mud, grass and gravel, and an AWD car covers that variety far better than a pure road build — especially late, when the action gets pushed off the smooth roads. If RWD is all that’s on offer, it’s still winnable; see the RWD throttle control guide for keeping it pointed straight on loose surfaces.

Head-to-head: win the start

Honk near another player to challenge them. Both of you get a nearby checkpoint to race to, and first across wins — the loser is eliminated, and the winner chooses to either take the opponent’s car or bump their own up a level. Be selective. Challenge players at your level or below, and don’t accept a fight you can clearly lose. The race is short, so a clean launch and the better line off the start usually decides it before top speed ever matters. Knowing the off-road shortcuts pays here.

Read the closing zone

The play area shrinks over time, herding everyone together. Don’t just sit on the current edge — look at where the next zone is centred and drift toward that, so you’re not scrambling across the map when it snaps inward. If you’d rather not brawl, players have found you can sit still in cover (you’re harder to spot on others’ minimaps) and let the field thin itself out. It’s a legitimate survival play, not a guaranteed one — get caught outside the boundary and you’re done anyway.

The Final Showdown

When the field is down to a handful, the arena collapses and everyone races to one final checkpoint. First across the line wins, full stop. This is where positioning beats horsepower: be near the centre before the countdown ends, then cut diagonally through fields and shortcuts instead of dutifully following the road. A lower-level car can absolutely steal this if you drive it cleanly and pick the shorter line. Don’t crash trying to be a hero.

Recent changes players are discussing

The Eliminator was briefly pulled offline after a credits exploit, then restored via hotfix — and the developers handed every player a free 2021 McLaren Sabre as an apology for the downtime. Accounts that abused the exploit had balances trimmed back. Don’t go chasing economy tricks; lean on honest methods in the credit farming guide instead. Expect the mode to keep getting tuned.

Want more multiplayer? Try the co-op Trial guide next, sharpen your fundamentals in the beginner guide, and browse the full car list and tier lists for what to build outside the arena.

Frequently asked questions