Descenders Next Coming in 2025, Expanding To Multiple Fast-Paced Downhill Sports

Over the last year or so I've really been hooked by sports games like Riders Republic, Trackmania, and other games that get your blood pumping. Whether it's headed downhill at high speeds or taking those turns as tight as possible, there's something thrilling about trying to hit the best line against the rest of the world.

Surprisingly, given my recent draw to games like this, I've never played Descenders. The original sports game from No More Robots and RageSquid has been out for about 6 years and I've never heard of it. I'm not a huge downhill biking fan by any stretch, but I certainly would have tried it. Maybe I should have, too, as the game has an overall "Overwhelmingly Positive" Steam review score.

Fans of the game have had some challenges lately with fewer updates and longer spans of time between those updates. That changes today as Descenders Next has been officially announced.

While the original focused on downhill biking, freestyle stunts, and procedurally generated tracks, the sequel is expanding things quite a bit. Launch will see Descenders Next initially focus on boarding sports adding snowboarding and mountainboarding.

Launch is planned for 2025 and the team promises that launch will have "full online multiplayer action, tons of tricks and grinds to pull off, and multiple huge biomes to explore" and those biomes will be "all together with a more natural experience, as players will tackle procedural off-piste mountains that chain together into tight, winding parks and vistas." These include new parks to hang out with friends and tackle challenges and scavenger hunts. Monstercat is supplying the soundtrack.

Test sessions will start later this year (sign up here) and Descenders Next will release next year on Steam and Game Pass. PlayStation versions will follow later.