Rev up your engine and get ready to hit the track with Ride 5.

Find your favorite bikes and check out new ones in the ultimate motorcycle game! Race on over 35 tracks and collect more than 200 motorcycles from world-renowned manufacturers, each element is designed to feel like you're riding a real bike.

Take what’s yours: a new career mode featuring a narrator and 10 rivals.

For the first time in the series, virtual racing fans will enjoy a career mode featuring a narrator who will introduce events and guide players throughout their riding journey. A leaderboard will track progress through the four main racing bundles of the career, which will include various events to be completed before unlocking the next one. To spice the competition up, Ride 5 career mode will also feature 10 rivals with their own personalities, backgrounds, and aesthetics. Players will have to beat their opponents in order to reach the top of the leaderboard. A set of secondary challenges completes the career structure for a total of over 200 playable events.

Career apart, Endurance races now support in-race save and rewind features to grant more control and flexibility over the gaming session, while the single-race and time-trial game modes will be the perfect places to refine riding styles, get familiar with the different bike categories and push performance to the limit.

High-end technology will bring the game to blur with reality     

Technological improvements will fully exploit the potential of New Gen consoles and top-range PC configurations, ensuring a new, stunning level of realism and lifelike experiences to deliver the most authentic and exciting riding simulation ever. For the first time in the franchise, the Milan-based development team has implemented a Dynamic Weather System, which will calculate in real-time track and air temperature to generate a realistic weather change during races, adding a strategic dimension to the racing experience. The Sky System has also been changed, moving from a 2D technology based on real photos to 3D volumetric clouds to ensure a more immersive visual result; now players can see clouds changing shape and interacting with the lighting based on their density, creating breathtaking views. Technological improvements also affects the motorbike physics, which has been improved in every aspect, from the interaction between the rider and the bike to different lean-angle speeds for each bike category. 

When we started brainstorming the game design for Ride 5, creating the Career mode was one of the most important moments. It’s not easy to design a video game that can satisfy all potential riders who will hop on our bikes. Whether they are novice gamers or seasoned champions, everyone should have fun and find something that fulfills them, offering the right level of challenge. The game must also be able to reward the time invested in it to both those who have a lot of time to dedicate and those who approach it casually, enjoying a few hours a week.

Now that Ride 5 is in an advanced stage of development and looking at its Career mode, I believe the above-mentioned requirements have been met. In fact, the game offers two paths: the main one, the Tour, is divided into four acts with events ranging from championships to various types of competitions, such as single races or time attacks. The optional one, the Limitless Challenges, offers four acts, each unlockable by clearing the corresponding main act, featuring a higher difficulty level.

In Career mode, it is not necessary to win every race in order to clear groups; it is sufficient to reach a minimum score. Initially it is quite low, but it progressively increases as players advance in the game. On the other hand, Limitless Challenges do not have a surpassing threshold but only a completion threshold: in other words, to finish them, all races must be won!

The adaptability of Ride 5 to players’ inclinations is therefore evident and is also reflected in the qualifications, that can be time-based or single lap. The former corresponds to a more casual (and usual) approach, while the latter represents a more hardcore experience as it provides only one lap to determine the race placement. Consequently, players must be skilled at giving their best immediately, while also keeping in mind that going off-track results in penalties.

Another challenge we wanted to tackle when conceptualizing Ride 5 was longevity. Unlike annual releases, we wanted to provide virtual bikers with an experience that could entertain them for years to come. The Race Creator is a highly customizable tool that allows players to create their own races. They have control over various aspects, including the logo, name, and format of the competition (single event or championship), as well as driving aids, competition type, number of riders, number of events, scoring, and more. This level of customization extends to the AI-managed riders as well, where players can personalize their bikes, suits, and even choose their opponents with meticulous detail, setting a new standard in Milestone’s games.

Among the races to be won, there will also be Endurances. Their duration can be set from a minimum of 20 minutes to a maximum of 24 hours, thus replicating some of the most iconic races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Winning each group of races rewards players with credits, experience, and unique bikes. Endurance races played in the Race Creator, on the other hand, only reward players with credits and experience.

Speaking of rewards, Ride 5‘s Career mode rewards players with powerful bikes at the end of each group of races. They serve as prizes and are crucial for tackling future challenges, ensuring that riders always have the appropriate motorcycle for competition. This means that players have the freedom to spend their credits as they wish. They can purchase better bikes than the ones they’ve won, upgrade their existing ones through the customization system, or indulge in cosmetic purchases for their rider’s attire. In the event that players mismanage their funds, they can still compete with a loaned bike obtained for free. However, credits earned at the end of the race are reduced.

Winning a competition brings satisfaction only if the opponent is a worthy opponent, and that’s why the Career mode in Ride 5 introduces Rivals, opponents with unique backgrounds and dedicated cutscenes and voiceovers. Each Rival has a distinct outfit and preferred track, bike, and manufacturer. For example, Charles Nolan races on a 2005 Suzuki GSX-R 600, which players can win by defeating him. Rivals exhibit greater aggression, are the best riders in the game, and progress in the rankings to intersect with the player’s career at crucial moments, becoming recurring antagonists.

The effort exerted by players in Ride 5 will be rewarded not only with bikes, credits, and points but also with the evolution of their headquarters, which will change based on their position in the world rankings. It will offer three different environments of increasing beauty, symbolizing the journey towards becoming top-ranked drivers. Over time, the scenarios become more prestigious, and new team members will be added. Additionally, players will start their travels on a pickup and eventually progress to a van, ultimately culminating with a fully equipped truck!

But how long will the Career last? For only the four acts of the Tour, without completing all the races but simply reaching the event’s surpassing thresholds, players can expect a longevity of approximately 17 hours. However, completing all the events in the four acts of the Tour will require around 30 hours. For completionists who engage with the additional content provided by Limitless Challenges, the fun extends by an extra 20 hours, resulting in a total of 50 hours of gameplay.

Antonio Notarangelo, Senior Game Designer, Milestone

Split-screen and cross-play: who will brake last?   

Bike culture knows no boundaries and with Ride 5 bike lovers can unleash such passion through an enhanced multiplayer experience. Online, it will be possible to join cross-play lobbies both on console (PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X | S) and on PC (Steam vs Epic Games Store), and world leaderboards will push players to become the best rider they can be. Finally, strongly requested by the community, for the first time since RIDE 2 the Split-screen is back to let players challenge their friends, side by side on the couch.

Many customization options for maximum longevity   

Among the pillars in the design of Ride 5 is the desire to allow players maximum freedom in living their own journey into the bike world. The race creator game mode serves such purpose, as players can be the director of the competition and create unlimited scenarios customizing their races and championship experience by choosing which types of bike categories to allow in the competition, selecting AI opponents and tracks, creating new liveries from scratch, and even deciding the scoring and rule system.

The reference point of two-wheel simulative racing games does not fall short even when it comes to approachability. An enhanced set of riding aids will ease the learning curve and help less experienced players get full control of their bike thanks to assisted brakes, cornering, automatic steering and throttle, ideal trajectory, and many other parameters to master even the most difficult tracks. 

Finally, with Ride 5 players can express their creativity thanks to powerful editors to customize bikes, suits, and helmets. They will be able to share their creations online, also between different platforms, in order to let everyone enjoy the most beautiful ideas.

Key Features:

• IT'S A LONG ROAD: It's not just speed that wins races - Endurance mode rewards perseverance and strategy. Time is no longer the issue, ride to your heart's content with the option of saving, exiting and jumping back in later. Just make sure you keep an eye on fuel and pit-stops - these helplines can quickly become your worst nightmare!
• FROM ZERO TO HERO: Start out in your garage, climb the ranks and become the best world racer in the new Career mode. Race against increasingly skilled Rivals, true obstacles who will stand between you and the finish line. Learn to master different bikes and handle every situation. It won't be easy though... The road to victory is laden with challenges and it's up to you to decide which one you want to take - the harder the challenge, the greater the reward!
• WIN UNDER ANY CONDITION: It doesn't matter how good you are, there is always one factor you can't control: the weather. Clear blue skies can turn into heavy downpours and then back to sunshine, rolling clouds will follow you as you dash through the bends, giving you ever-changing views and landscapes. You will have to deal with unexpected situations and use your skill to tackle both wet and dry conditions - the improved physics makes for an even more life-like experience!
• TEST. LEARN. RIDE.: Not sure which line to follow or when to slam on the brakes? Use the new riding aids and get customized support when needed the most. Learn to better handle the bike and the tricks of the trade to become the best rider you can be.
• TAKE CONTROL: You can tell a true motorcycle aficionado not just from the bike but also from their garage - collect your favorite models and customize them to your liking. Share your designs with other players and showcase your style! Don't get caught up on cosmetics only. With Race Creator you can build an endless number of scenarios, from single races to complete championships, choose your bikes and tracks, and act as a Race Director to set your own rules.
• FEEL THE COMPETITION: Split screen is back! Now you can challenge a friend and win live! And if you want to show the world what you're worth, Endurance races will really put you to the test.

Ride 5 is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam/Epic Game Store) starting August 24, 2023