Experience the pulse of a buzzing metropolis with all the good (and not so good) stuff that happens: the traffic jams, harsh weather, bumpy roads, impatient passengers, and the occasional accident. Urban Venture will task players to drive clients, hire personnel, maintain a fleet of cars and manage the business to build their transportation empire.

Off to new adventures, Simteract, the Polish studio behind the beloved Train Life: A Railway Simulator game, is hard at work developing the first-ever realistic ride-hailing tycoon: Urban Venture. Their most ambitious game to date will feature an open-world 1:1 recreation of Barcelona using advanced city building, real-world data and complex AI traffic simulation systems.

In Urban Venture, you assume the role of a driver who starts working in the ride-hailing industry. At the onset, you only have one cheap car and can take up jobs for existing companies to earn more money and experience. You can open your own company and compete with others for market share in the long run.

Taxi jobs, food delivery, obeying driving rules, and random passengers’ wishes (fast trips to the city or slow and chatty to the mall) are just scratching the surface of what Urban Venture has in store for you.

Offering a 1:1 recreation of the famous city of Barcelona — the second-largest city in Spain, after Madrid — the game features a playable area of at least 20 km2, with recreated parts of the real city and over 200 of its most famous landmarks, historical buildings, parks, and sculptures. If you never had the chance to visit Barcelona, this is your ticket there — but you might just have to earn your keep.   

The world of Urban Venture is a living and breathing place, with realistic traffic and pedestrians walking on the streets. The pedestrians aren’t only there for show; they influence gameplay. The weather is also a factor in how the world reacts. There are fewer people on the streets when it rains, and cars drive slower to prevent accidents.

Deep customization and management tools will help you custom-build the looks of your character, brand, cabin and maintain and upgrade your vehicles for better performance. Customers will rate the cleanliness of your vehicle and extra services, while the streets will punish you for carrying cheap tires. You’ll want to do a quick stop at the garage shop during lunch break to check your car’s vitals.

The life of a taxi driver can get tiresome. Once you know the streets, the rules of business, and have earned enough money and reputation, you can step aside to handle the corporate expansion; let your employed drivers bring home the bounty. Being a boss will come with challenges, such as dealing with problematic drivers, company finances, and real estate management. There’s no recipe for succeeding in a start-up; you’ll have to make adjustments along the way to compete for your market slice.   

Urban Venture is a sandbox game where you get to choose how to play. You can decide to be a modern-day taxicab driver to earn money and experience points, or you can take on other challenges that the city has to offer while roaming in “free drive.”

In “free drive” mode, you can drive through the city without an official destination and gather collectibles while you explore.

Urban Venture is coming to Steam Early Access in Q4 2022 - Q1 2023 and will continue to expand features and world size.