Two years after the last chapter, Monster Energy Supercross 25 – The Official Video Game is about to be released for Xbox Series X|S on April 10, 2025, with early access starting on April 7. As Game Director of this franchise, it is both an honor and a challenge as this new installment marks a complete rebuild of the series from the ground up.

This was made possible thanks to the valuable input from expert community members, whom we kept an open dialogue with throughout development to identify areas for improvement. Listening to their feedback was fundamental to crafting a gameplay experience that would truly meet the desires of our players, and importantly, the decision to adopt a biannual development plan also allowed us to step up the game technically with the adoption of Unreal Engine 5.

The Most Accurate Supercross Tracks Yet

Before diving into the gameplay facets, let me point out one of the biggest changes in terms of content, as Monster Energy Supercross 25 – The Official Video Game will feature for the first time in the history of the franchise the current season with 2025 riders, tracks and liveries available on day one. This has never been done before due to the structure of Supercross. In fact, each track only exists for the few days of the event and then is gone forever.

To make this happen, we had to adopt a different technique; while in the past we used photogrammetry technology, this time we were able to access the blueprints of the 2025 tracks in advance to recreate them in the game engine without the need for additional photo reference. This is a new and different method that allows you to discover the tracks even before the real events take place — and real riders can also train with the game ahead of the championship final!

Building with the Community

As we mentioned earlier, we have collaborated with some of the most important Supercross creators asking them to test the game at various development stages. Listening to their opinions we have learned and tweaked many elements such as the riders’ animations, which are now more fluid and realistic than ever. Another crucial feature that the community helped us with is bike handling. Thanks to them, we have implemented a new bike balance system that will allow newcomers to enjoy the adrenaline of Supercross and veterans to perform better.

Most importantly, the community helped us rebuild the riding physics from scratch. On the ground, you’ll find many changes: the steering angle, traction and tire-to-ground contact have all been reworked to create a more immersive experience. The in-air physics, on the other hand, has been completely revolutionized. A renewed stick control system will give you full control of the in-air motion, which is something we never did in the past and will now allow you to decide how to manage both the rider and bike’s weight after the jump. With the new physics, performing whips and scrubs will be much more rewarding and those who will be mastering these movements will get an even greater advantage.

Upgrading to Unreal Engine 5

From a technical standpoint, Unreal Engine 5 allowed us to create features that we once thought impossible thanks to Chaos, its physics engine. For the first time, the track will be alive, just as the community wanted, with a new system that will challenge you lap after lap. In a real Supercross race, the track is indeed modified by the passing of the riders, creating ruts on the ground. One of the pilots’ many talents is to interpret these ruts to find the best trajectory. The new ruts system simulates track evolution so that you will have to find the best path for each lap.

With Unreal Engine 5 we were also able to implement for the first time a Neural AI system which will completely change the way rivals will behave during a race. In fact, the Neural AI is trained exactly like a real rider: we make them test the tracks hundreds and hundreds of times to learn how to approach corners and jumps.

While working on this new feature we faced two of the biggest challenges of the project: first, we had to teach the AI how to handle the new ruts system. We achieved it by training what we call “agents”, namely the AI-controlled riders on the same track at different stages of ground degradation so that they could learn how to handle the various situations that a Supercross rider can encounter during a race. Secondly, we had to train the AI how to handle the air sections. Thanks to these technical achievements the AI can now race on user-generated tracks and we can’t wait to see our community enjoy this impressive milestone.

The new AI is also an important element of the fresh career mode we have developed. Here you’ll become an integral part of the Supercross universe, thanks to a dynamic system full of challenges and tests to become the most successful rider. I can’t say too much here, so stay tuned to learn what we have in store for you.

Thank you for your time and attention. Before I go I would like to reveal to the Xbox Wire readers a small surprise — at the top of this post you can see for the first time the official key art of the game, depicting some of the main protagonists of the 2025 season. Monster Energy Supercross 25 – The Official Video Game will launch on Xbox Series X|S on April 10, 2025, with early access starting from April 7. See you on the race track!