If you’ve been eagerly gripping the steering wheel awaiting a chance to smash seven bells out of other drivers then we’ve got some good news for you: Wreckfest 2 is hitting Steam early access from March 20.
The follow-up to one of 2018’s biggest hits — literally — Wreckfest 2 is aiming to move the destruction derby antics on a bit with improvements across the board when it comes to simulating the world of percussive deconstruction of automobiles.
You’ll be able to get into the early access period of Wreckfest 2, which THQ Nordic and Bugbear Entertainment expect to last at least 12 months, from $29.99 in this initial phase — with a 20% discount if you pick it up in the first two weeks through to April 3 — although at the moment it is a little thin when it comes to content.
Bugbear has focused on getting the core game right for this phase, so there’s only really a handful of tracks, cars, and game modes — and even then only if you have rather small hands.
You’ll be able to drive at four separate locations, although there’s a couple of different layouts at most of them. Savolax Sandpit, Scrapyard, Speedway, and Testing Grounds combine for eight courses in total.
There’s also only four (fictional) vehicles, and not a great deal to do with them right now aside from smash them to pieces. While you can drive the returning Roadslayer and Rocket cars — not a Camaro and not a Mustang respectively — and the new Chevrolet Cavalier-a-like Striker and clearly Volkswagen Golf-inspired Ginger, there’s no tuning and very little in the way of visual tweaks.
In fact there’s currently no in-game economy system, no garage, not much by way of a livery editor — there’s a paint shop but it’s a little barebones — and pretty much all you can do is drive and smash, both against the AI and, theoretically, online multiplayer. Obviously we’re still pre-EA right now, so that last one isn’t accessible on our version but should be present come 1500 UTC on March 20.
While that doesn’t seem a lot, Bugbear has kept its focus on making the driving and smashing as close to ideal as it can. We’ll let you make your own conclusions on that one, but it certainly appears that what’s on offer even at this stage is an improvement over the first title.
There is more content on the way too, with two new tracks and two new cars planned for a free update in May, and players can help Bugbear’s development path with their feedback in this early access period. A “living roadmap” is on the way soon as well, and we hope to hear a bit more about the teased career mode.
Bugbear says it has “big ambitions” and is planning “plenty of exciting content” for Wreckfest 2, which will include not only new cars and arena/track locations but new ways to customize your rides with new armor parts, design sharing features, new challenges, and special tournaments, all penciled in for the early access version.
As noted on the Steam page, it’s expected that this period will last for at least 12 months, so we’re expecting a full release some time in mid-2026. That’ll be joined by launches on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles, also due at the end of the PC early access program.
You can join the fun from around 1600 UTC on Thursday March 20, with a 20% discount on purchases made before Thursday April 3.
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