Next Car Game launches on Steam Early Access

News
By published

Since Next Car Game was first announced, Bugbear have created a Kickstarter , released a trailer , cancelled the Kickstarter , released a demo , and crowdfunded through their own website . You'd think that at some point during that process, somebody on the team would have raised their hand and said "hey guys, how about we call it 'Smashy Smashy Bang Vroom'?"

"Early access phase is meant to give you a chance to experience the game as it progresses through its development cycle, and the game is still at an early stage," explains the game's Early Access disclaimer. "As such, it does contain missing features and nasty bugs." Features like a proper name. "Developing the game together with the players gives us a lot more creative freedom, and you get to communicate with the development team to make sure we're making the all-out racing game that you want."

Despite my fascination with their refusal to name a game, it's a promising looking racer from a talented team of genre enthusiasts. Bugbear were responsible for the good Flatout games, and it seems that they now hope to one-up those with a spectacular destruction engine. For more, race over to Craig's hands-on session with the game's tech demo. Or watch the below video, showing the game's developers smashing up cars for "research".

Phil Savage
Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.