The long-awaited return of the official motocross franchise has arrived as MXGP 24 launches on PC and consoles as the first title in the series to be developed by KT Racing.
Between 2014 and 2021, the MXGP: The Official Motocross Videogame series were developed and published by Milestone. With no news of a game for 2022, it was revealed in the summer of 2023 that the license had moved to France and Kylotonn (KT Racing) as part of the Nacon group, with the developers of the first two TT Isle of Man games now switching to dirt racing alongside Artefacts Studio, who normally specialise in tactical RPG games.
It’s the first installment in a series that is scheduled to run until 2028, with the new full title of MXGP 24 The Official Game assuming that people know it’s motocross. At launch it includes the full 2024 Grand prix calendar with 19 tracks available and a final new race coming free a few days post-launch. You also get the official championship riders, bikes and teams from the MXGP and MX2 categories, with the likes of Jorge Prado, Jeffrey Herlings, Maxime Renaux and Andrea Adamo.
If you’re not familiar with the classes, MXGP is open to any rider on bikes ranging from 250cc two-strokes to 450cc four-strokes, whiile MX2 is limited to those under 23 years of age, and riding 125cc two-strokes to 250cc four-strokes. And events take place around the world, from Cordoba in Argentina to Uddevalla in Sweden or Shanghai in China.
As you’ve expect, there’s a Career Mode which starts you as an amateur rider hoping to work their way up through MX2 and MXGP, developing your team, schedule and rivalries. And there’s also online multiplayer.
The game promises realism and advanced physics, along with user-friendly controls to help beginners ease into things. Although it has to be noted that the hanful of initial reviews on Steam are all negative, with many complaining about game issues, physics and a lack of track degradation, which is obviously a big part of riding off-road in real life. The console versions have also received some one star reviews already.
Hopefully any initial problems can be rectified with future updates, although bike physics and track conditions are probably pretty core in the code base. After all this time and with the license now held until 2028, fans of virtual motocross deserve an official title which allows them to enjoy their racing once again.
MXGP 24: The Official Game is available for the PC via Steam, the Xbox Series X|S via the Microsoft Store, and the PS5 via the PlayStation Store for £49.99 on consoles, and £41.99 on PC, although there’s a 10% discount on Steam until December 5th, 2024. A special Fox Holeshot Edition is also available, which adds four exlusive Fox rider suits and access to the MXGP TV archive for the 2024 season. Although you’d assume most fans will have already watched the racing by the time they get around to buying the game.
And you’ll be able to keep up with all the latest MXGP 24: The Official Game news, updates and more, here.
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