The long-awaited sequel to an extremely popular Xbox Game Pass hit has finally arrived Monday morning with a shadow drop out of nowhere, and is now playable on Xbox and PC through both the Xbox PC app and Valve's PC gaming client Steam.
The crowd-pleaser in question is Descenders — a 2019 downhill racing sports game that benefitted hugely from coming to Game Pass — and its newly released follow-up is Descenders Next, "a massive project" from developer RageSquid and publisher No More Robots. Previously, it was scheduled to come out on April 9 earlier this year, but was delayed indefinitely so changes based on playtest feedback could be made.
Notably, like the original game, Descenders Next has launched into Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview, with RageSquid planning to gradually update it into a complete "1.0" state over the next two years. Currently, it's only available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, the Xbox PC app, and Steam, but it will eventually come to Sony's PS5 and PS4 consoles at some point in the future as well.
"Early Access was an amazing way for us to grow Descenders alongside the community and shape the game together," the studio wrote on the sequel's Steam page. "Although Descenders Next is in a good place now, we have so many ideas and goals in mind. We can't wait to bring you along with us, and can't imagine a better way to shape the game than Early Access!"
Whereas the first Descenders game was centered around biking, Descenders Next shifts its gameplay focus to boarding sports. At release, both snowboarding and mountainboarding are available to play, learn, and master, with four different biomes for its procedurally generated open-world maps that feature "off-piste mountains that chain together into tight, winding parks, and vistas."
Over time, the developers plan to add new environmental biomes, multiplayer modes, and official mod support, along with new sports (I'd love to see skiing, personally). "Tons of customization options" are on the way as well, giving fans the freedom to personalize their Descender and rewards to pursue as they play.
It's worth noting that unlike many Early Access titles, Descenders Next won't be increasing its $29.99 price once it gets a full release. It's also going to be refined with close attention paid to player suggestions and feedback, with RageSquid encouraging fans to share their thoughts on the game on the official Descenders Discord server, forums, and social media channels like YouTube and TikTok.
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Descenders is widely regarded as one of the best downhill racing games ever made, with its controls, simulated physics, and the quality of its procedurally generated maps and courses all garnering strong acclaim from critics and fans alike. In 2020, its arrival on Xbox Game Pass led to tripled sales and it rose to become the eighth most-played title in the program at the time, and RageSquid reports over 30 million players have hit the trail since 2019.
With that in mind, there are very high expectations for Descenders Next — expectations I have a feeling the passionate team behind it will meet and perhaps even exceed, given how committed it seems to be to delivering "the ultimate extreme sports game" to its fans. I'm certainly going to check it out for at least a little while myself, even though I'm not really a sports/racing game guy.
Ultimately, it's great to finally see the game released into Early Access, and the surprise nature of this launch makes it a bright spot of fun on an otherwise dreary "I wish it was still the weekend" Monday morning. Again, you can jump in with PC Game Pass or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, with the latter providing access on Xbox consoles, Windows PC, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. You can also buy it on Xbox, the Xbox PC app, and Steam for $29.99.
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