Riders Republic

The five main activities available in the game include mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, wingsuit flying, and rocket wingsuiting. Ubisoft described the game as a "massively multiplayer sports game", as more than 50 players can compete against each other in races.[1] The PS4 and Xbox One versions only support about 20 players.[2] In addition, players can also play a 6v6 competitive multiplayer mode named "Tricks Battle Arena". In this mode, each team competes in an arena and needs to perform as many tricks as possible in order to score Trick points. The team which has the highest score would win the match.[3] The game is set in an open world which meshes seven distinct American national parks, including Bryce Canyon, Yosemite Valley, Sequoia Park, Zion, Canyonlands, Mammoth Mountain, and Grand Teton, into one single map. It also features a social hub in which players can meet and interact with each other.[1]

The game also features a career mode, in which players engage in 6 different activities (Bike Freestyle, Bike Racing, Ski Freestyle, Ski Racing, Wingsuit, Rocket Wingsuit). Each of them has their own progression path.[2] Gradually, players would reach important milestones, such as being invited to join competitions like UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Red Bull Rampage and the X Games,[3] and signing with real-world sports sponsors.[4] The final objective is to participate in "Riders Ridge Invitational", "a never seen before multi-sport competition featuring all sports in one single event". In this event, players can switch between the sport activities at will.[3] As players progress in the career mode, they will unlock new gears, outfits and cosmetic items.[5]

The game is currently being developed by Ubisoft Annecy, the team which released Steep, also an extreme sports game, in 2016. Development of the game started in 2017, and the development team expanded to include members from other Ubisoft's studios in Montpellier, Belgrade, Pune, Berlin, Kyiv, and Odesa.[2] The development team recreated the national parks using GPS data, and even though the seven national parks are distinct regions in real life, the team integrated the parks together in order to create one single open world for players to explore. The American national parks were chosen as the game's setting as they are often used to host competitions for extreme sports. The studio also sent a team to visit these parks to ensure that they are accurately represented in the game.[6]

Like Steep, the game is not a simulation video game, as the team designed the gameplay to be as accessible as possible. The team worked with experts and athletes to ensure that each activity featured is authentic.[6] For instance, different bike brands have stats that would "mimic real life behaviour".[7] The gameplay was designed to be a social game which emphasizes "excitement and camaraderie of online community". This decision was made after Steep was offered as free game for PlayStation Plus members in early 2019, which went on to attract more than 10 million new players.[8]

Riders Republic was announced on September 10, 2020 during the Ubisoft Forward digital event. The game was set to be released for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One and Xbox Series X on February 25, 2021.[9] Players who pre-ordered the game would receive the Bunny Pack, which adds additional cosmetic items into the game. The game would be supported extensively with post-launch downloadable content.[10] On January 14, 2021, Ubisoft announced the game has been delayed until sometime later in the year.[11]

• Official website