Forza Horizon 6 missing reflections (SSR and ray traced)

[TristanaMain]

I've spent 30 hours playing Forza Horizon 6 and just noticed the reflections look off. The game appears to use basic reflection cube maps regardless of system settings. Even with SSR quality set to Extreme and RT reflections set to High, the issue persists.

I don't want to upload an Intel SSU report so I'll list my system specs.

Intel Arc Driver: 32.0.101.8801 (used DDU before installing)

Game: Forza Horizon 6 (Steam)

Processor: 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-13100F

Motherboard: Asus Prime H610M-K D4

RAM: 2x8 3200MT/s DDR4 memory

OS: Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC

PSU: Seasonic B12 BM-650

Steps to reproduce: Launch the game>go into the open world

Note: I saw a similar issue regarding this bug in the community, but the thread was closed? I hope this one won't meet the same fate, as it's a glaring issue.

[TristanaMain]

Sorry, I forgot to put my GPU. It's an Asrock Challenger Intel Arc B580.

[james0]

This sounds like it could be either a rendering pipeline limitation in the game or a driver-level issue with how reflections are being handled on Intel Arc GPUs.

Since SSR + RT reflections settings don’t seem to change the behavior, it’s possible the game is falling back to cube map reflections in certain scenes regardless of settings, especially in open-world streaming areas. Your clean DDU reinstall rules out a lot on the driver side, so this might be a game-side implementation issue rather than hardware.

Would be interesting to see if others on different GPUs are observing the same “static reflection” behavior in the same locations.

[TristanaMain]

Yes, that appears to be the case.

Also, rolling back to previous drivers isn't an option, as it could do more harm than good, as noted in this Reddit post .

[CM_Intel]

Hello TristanaMain,

Thank you for posting your query on the Intel Community Forum!

Thank you for reaching out and for providing detailed information about the reflection issue you’re experiencing in Forza Horizon 6. I understand how noticeable graphical inconsistencies especially reflections can impact your gaming experience, and I appreciate you taking the time to report this.

To help us investigate this further and review the issue more effectively, I’d like to gather a few additional details:

1. Kindly delete the in‑game shader cache and check if the issue persists after relaunching the game.

2. Please confirm your in‑game video/graphics configuration currently being used.

3. Is this issue occurring only in Forza Horizon 6, or have you observed similar reflection behavior in other games as well?

4. Does the issue appear every time you enter the open world, or only under certain conditions?

5. Have you noticed whether the issue persists with previous driver versions, or is it specific to driver version 32.0.101.8801?

6. SSU (System Support Utility) report 

You can download the SSU tool using the link below:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057926/memory-and-storage.html

Please note: While generating the SSU report, kindly uncheck the “Networking” option.

Once we have the above details, we’ll be in a better position to determine the root cause and guide you forward.

Thank you again for your patience and for bringing this to our attention. I look forward to your response.

Best regards,

CM

Intel Customer Support Technician

[TristanaMain]

Hi,

1. I deleted the in-game shader cache, issue still persists.

2. My in game graphics settings are attached below.

3. This is the only game that does this.

4. This issue appears every time. Inside safehouses, in the open world, in races, everything.

5. I tried the following drivers:

- 32.0.101.8629 WHQL - issue still persists + RTGI flickering

- 32.0.101.8724 WHQL - issue still persists + crashed when changing graphics settings (screenshot below)

- 32.0.101.8801 WHQL - issue still persists (the driver I'm using when I posted this question)

6. Attached the SSU report below.

Thanks in advance!

[CM_Intel]

Hello TristanaMain,

I hope this mail finds you well.

Thank you for sharing the detailed information, driver testing results, and attachments. This is very helpful, and I truly appreciate the effort you’ve taken to document the behavior so thoroughly.

I understand the issue is consistently reproducible and limited to this specific game, even after testing multiple driver versions and adjusting settings. I will now review the provided details more closely and investigate this further. I will reach out to you as soon as I have more information or the next steps to move forward.

In the meantime, if you happen to notice any changes in the behavior or observe anything new, kindly keep us informed, as that may help with the analysis. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re always happy to help.

Thank you again for your patience and cooperation.

Best regards,

CM

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Climatic91]

I just wanted to chime in and say that I have the same visual issues as TristanaMain. I went through the same troubleshooting steps of deleting shader cache, reinstalling the game, and reinstalling drivers.

The performance cost is still there when either SSR or RT reflections are turned on, however, visually all reflections show up as cube-mapped throughout the map.

A Google search shows this issue being raised among a number B580 owners throughout online forums when it relates to Forza Horizon 6.

I will also be following this discussion for any useful information.

[Arachnus]

Plus 1 for this report.

Same reflections problems on my b580s( i have two; a Sparkle titan OC and a Limited edition).

did the tests, the DDU clean up (shaders and drivers) and tested with the 2 latest driver packages.

when you enable ray traced reflections, nothing visually changes, but the performance drops down below half, not showing any ray traced reflections on glasses, water and so on, strange black surface on roads too, when with water on the road, on far distances, for example using scren space reflections i can lay solid above 60FPs, when enabling ray tracing on open scenery, th game stills runs great, but as soon you enter a urban/city with lots of buildings, glasses, etc, the performce instantly falls below 30 FPS, the feel is that gpu is trayig to render ray traced reflections, but don´t show it on the scren graphics, something like that. it´s like to different games on one.

posted here to follow any develpment or news, thanks.

[csl_armin]

I have noticed the same behaviour as well.

Ray Tracing Reflections simply do nothing but eat fps.

Screen Space Reflections aren't working either. The game defaults to low quality cubemaps.

[syphani]

Same here! RT doesn't work at all. Neither does SSR. Defaults to cubemap.

[CM_Intel]

Hello TristanaMain,

I hope you are doing well.

I wanted to inform you that a new graphics driver version has been released. At your convenience, I kindly recommend performing a clean installation of the driver to help ensure optimal performance and rule out any residual conflicts.

For best results, please follow these steps:

• Use Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) to completely remove the current graphics driver. You can refer to the guide here:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000091878/graphics.html

• After the uninstall process is complete, please download and install the latest available graphics driver from the following link: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/785597/intel-arc-graphics-windows.html

This process often helps in resolving persistent issues and ensures the system is running with a clean and updated driver environment.

Please let me know once you've completed these steps or if you notice any changes in the behavior. I’ll be happy to continue assisting you further based on the results.

Thank you for your continued cooperation, and I look forward to your update.

Best regards,

CM

Intel Customer Support Technician

[TristanaMain]

Hi,

Unfortunately, reflections remain absent in this game. I already performed a DDU before installing the latest driver (32.0.101.8824), yet the game still falls back to cubemaps even after maxing out SSR or RT reflection settings. Others experiencing this issue are welcome to report here.

Thanks.

[Climatic91]

When posting here via my phone, the only way I can post is by replying to a post, so I apologize about that.

I again did the DDU and installed the newest driver, but everything is still showing up cube-mapped.

My old 1070 TI / 4790k system is having zero issues showing reflections, despite being unsupported hardware for the game. I can at least get 1080p medium with SSR, and it arguably looks better than the visuals from my B580 due to those reflections adding so much to the visual experience.

Is there possibly something at Intel's level that is the issue here? My friend who I convinced to get a B580 is reporting the exact same issues too.

[十柒]

The latest driver is also ineffective

[Arachnus]

Just updated yesterday to the latest driver package(.8824) on both of my B580s, clean uninstall with DDU, cleaned shaders cache directory, same problem with the reflections persists, no change on reflections modes, does not matter if you choose ray traced or screen space reflctions, the basic reflections is all that is rendered.

played a few hours yesyerday with the latest driver, and just now a few minutes, besides performance feels a bit better, no fixes, no changes on reflections.

[Climatic91]

I was able to get to my PC and upload pictures of the visuals I'm getting.

This is all after deleting shader cache and doing DDU again, and installing the latest .8824 driver.

Performance maybe doesn't seem to be affected any more by the reflection adjustments, but they still don't show up at all when selected.

[TristanaMain]

Hello,

As of driver version 32.0.101.8826, the issue still persists (with DDU). The game still uses basic cube maps regardless of graphics settings. Hoping for a fix soon.

Thanks.