The spirit of Steep lives on in Ubisoft’s extreme sports game Riders Republic

Ubisoft has unveiled Riders Republic, a “mass multiplayer outdoor extreme sports game” and something of a spiritual successor to its under-appreciated winter sports affair Steep.

As in that game, Riders Republic is focussed on extreme sporting action across a vast open-world, but while Steep limited itself to snow-covered mountains and other frosty locales, Ubisoft’s latest effort features a wide range of terrain.

Riders Republic’s world draws from seven different US national parks – Bryce Canyon, Yosemite Valley, Sequoia Park, Zion, Canyonlands, Mammoth Mountain and Grand Teton – taking actual GPS data and stitching each iconic area together in a way that supposedly feels natural. The result is a map that combines verdant forest tracks, cliffs, arid desert expanses, and yes, plenty of snowy mountains, into, going by the announcement footage at least, a gorgeously rendered whole.

Here, players can indulge in the likes of snowboarding, biking, skiing, and wing suit action (of both vanilla and jet-powered varieties), and while solo and co-op player are supported, Ubisoft is pushing large-scale multiplayer competition – including races with upward of 50 players and 6×6 PvP arenas – as a big focus.

Events, meanwhile, range from traditional challenges to rather more “zany” offerings, with the preview trailer unfortunately opting for a tone that feels more than a little forced.

Riders Republic is coming to PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and will be “optimised for next-gen” on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5. It’s out on 25th February next year.