The project’s cancellation apparently came shortly after Ubisoft announced its restructuring, which would put development of the Assassin’s Creed franchise under one of the new “Creative Houses” at the company, dubbed Vantage Studios. Following play sessions with the top management of Vantage, executives heading up LEAGUE were notified of its cancellation.

Not all is seemingly lost, however. The report has also noted that a small group of employees that worked on LEAGUE will be tasked with bringing over the technical advancements and R&D that went into making the co-op mode into Ubisoft’s in-house Anvil game engine. After this, Vantage Studios will start accepting pitches for co-operative game modes for future Assassin’s Creed titles.

LEAGUE itself was seemingly deemed too expensive to develop, and the future pitches for a co-op mode are mandated to offer high replayability while also keeping development costs down.

Rumors of a co-op mode coming to Assassin’s Creed Shadows first popped up back in October 2024. While it didn’t have any confirmed release date, the mode was expected to be added to Shadows as part of the open-world title’s post-launch support. This mode was originally believed to feature protagonists Yasuke and Naoe as playable characters. However, another report from May 2025 indicated that it would feature a “deeper narrative” that goes “beyond just the two of them”.

Ubisoft had announced its organizational overhaul last month, and in the process, had also confirmed that it was cancelling a host of projects. Among these was Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake. As part of this restructuring, the company has started to establish its five Creative Houses, with each one being put in charge of specific franchises, genres, and platforms.

Since then, the company has come under fire from France-based unions. Earlier this week, union representatives and Ubisoft Paris employees Marc Rutschlé and Chakib Mataoui demanded the resignation of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. Among the reasons for this was his penchant for nepotism, as could be seen with him assigning his son Charlie as a co-CEO of Vantage Studios.

“If you just put your white male friends in [those jobs], then you don’t promote any diversity or get any new opinions or ideas,” Mataoui said. “We are in a creative job. We need new ideas to come in to [help us] make great new games. But we don’t have that. We don’t have this mindset for creativity.”

Other issues that have been brought up by the unions include the company’s return-to-office mandate, demanding that employees spend five days of the week in the office. This, noted Mataoui, caused many employees to panic since “they started their lives very far from Paris and from their studios”.

In the meantime, check out our reviews of Assassin’s Creed Shadows and its Claws of Awaji expansion for more details.

Set in a large open world composed of multiple American National parks like Mammoth Mountain, Bryce Canyon and so on, players can partake in a number of different sports. Snowboarding, wingsuiting and biking are some of the activities available with each having a separate career path. The main appeal is multiplayer though with co-op exploration, 6v6 modes and Mass Races where over 50 players can participate.

This is only just the beginning though as Riders Republic will have seasonal content drops with live events, new cosmetics and BMX, a new sport with its own career path. Stay tuned for more details on updates in the coming months.

Said parks include Bryce Canyon, Yosemite Valley, Sequoia, Mammoth Mountain and much more, which have been stitched into one giant world. Each maintains their unique characteristics though, like the sprawling dunes of Canyonlands or the snow-covered peaks of Grand Teton. In the second video, Ubisoft Annecy’s world designer Yann Fieux talks about the process behind recreating these parks in the game.

Riders Republic is out on October 28th, and will be available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Google Stadia. For more details on its various features, head here. You can also read up on the post-launch content and Year 1 roadmap here.

Along with access to all five careers, players can partake in three Mass Races with over 50 players (with new races appearing every half hour on the map). Versus Mode will also be live, allowing players to play with up to five friends in any career event, while Tricks Battle provides a dedicated 6v6 PvP mode to see which team can score the most tricks. There’s also Free for All which sees up to 12 players battling it over various events in a playlist.

Riders Republic releases on October 28th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, PC and Google Stadia. For more details on its various features, head here. You can also check out the Year 1 roadmap – which includes live events, seasons and more – here.

Unleash the Rider within!
Play for free on October 12th exclusively on Ubisoft Connect PC pic.twitter.com/KU7nRGbJiZ

— Riders Republic (@RidersRepublic) October 8, 2021

Enjoy a free access for an entire day on Ubisoft Connect PC. Preload will be available on October 11th at 9am CEST. Stay tuned for more info!

— Riders Republic (@RidersRepublic) October 8, 2021

PC Play Day is coming on October 12th! Are you ready? Here's a reminder of your start time! #RidersRepublic #RRPCPlayDay pic.twitter.com/nCfY1ZG0FZ

— Riders Republic (@RidersRepublic) October 11, 2021

Next is Season 1: Winter Bash which introduces new multiplayer modes and Live Events which offer special activities with unique rewards. Seasonal progression is in effect as well, providing a Battle Pass-like tier system of rewards. Season 2 is Showdown Time which introduces Showdown Mode, a 6v6 mode taking place in different arenas.

Season 3 sees the arrival of a new sport, BMX, along with new playgrounds and events to play at. Season Pass owners also get a new career and sponsors for BMX. Riders Republic is out on October 28th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, PC and Google Stadia. Stay tuned for more details en route to launch.

7 National Parks, One World

Riders Republic takes place in an open world, which isn’t a surprise for Ubisoft titles. However, it’s actually based off of seven American national parks that have been combined together. You have the amphitheaters of Bryce Canyon, the granite summits of Yosemite Valley and the diversity of Zion National Park alongside Sequoia Park, Canyonlands, Grand Teton and Mammoth Mountain. The result is a world that’s defined by its natural beauty more than anything else (with GPS data used to create terrain to ensure the right amount of authenticity).

Social Hub

In essence though, Riders Republic is a massively multiplayer-style game. You’ll gather in a social hub with other players, and then group together for different activities. Of course, the hub is also where much of the socializing goes on as you show off different outfits, emotes and more while also practicing your tricks. One can also purchase new cosmetics from a shop using in-game currency called Bucks, which further feeds into the customization aspect.

Five Sports

Just like with Steep, you’re not confined to a single extreme sport. There are five in total – wingsuit flying, rocket wingsuiting, snowboarding, mountain biking and skiing – and each has their own unique mechanics and tricks. As you progress through different aspects of the game, various disciplines of each also open up like freestyle biking or ski racing along with different rewards. Earning XP also unlocks new Gear with different rarities with Elite items presumably offering the best stats.

Career Mode

This is best highlighted in Career Mode, which offers six activities from Bike and Ski Freestyle to Bike and Ski Racing, Wingsuit and Rocket Wingsuit. Each has their own progression path and you’ll partake in different events and challenges to unlock new cosmetics and gear. Eventually, you’ll be invited to bigger competitions like the X Games and UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. And if you’re getting bored with a particular sport or want to try something else, then you can seamlessly switch to another.

Riders Ridge Invitational

Career Mode isn’t just about completing random events, unlocking outfits, garnering support from sponsors, and so on – it’s all leading up to the Riders Ridge Invitational. Game director Arnaud Ragot described it to IGN last year as “a never seen before multi-sport competition” which combines all of the different sports into one single event. This seems to indicate a gauntlet of races across the world but how it all actually plays out remains to be seen.

Character Customization

Upon starting the game, you’ll be tasked with creating your very own avatar. There are two body types available with numerous skin tones, hair, hair colors and more to customize. You can also don a variety of clothes, from separate items to full outfits. Everything can be mixed and matched accordingly so if you want to wear a bunny head to go with your t-shirt and jeans, have at it. Along with Bucks, you can also spend real money to purchase Republic Coins and acquire a few “super unique” outfits. Outfits and gear can also be unlocked from completing weekly challenges with more cosmetics to be added over time.

Real-World Sponsors

Aside from completing events and spending Bucks in the store, you can also sign with a real-world sponsor to unlock rewards. For example, when signing when Santa Cruz, a player receives three Daily Contracts to complete, from winning three Big or Boss bike events to completing three different stunts. Ranking up will earn items like caps, pants, jerseys and bikes.

Not a Simulation Game

Watch any trailer for the game and it’s clear that hardcore realism isn’t the main goal here. Speaking to Red Bull last year, creative director Igor Manceau noted that it’s “not a simulation” and the focus is on being “accessible to all levels of player.” That being said, different bikes will offer different performances based on their real-world models and thanks to numerous sponsors, you’ll spot a number of real-world gear as well.

Multiplayer and Mass Races

Multiplayer is an important part of the experience and there are quite a number of different avenues to play. You could explore the world freely with other players; partake in races, trick challenges and Online Cups (which serve as the ranked part of the experience); and play in 6v6 matches. The Mass Races are the biggest hook though with 64 players participating in one large chaotic race. Based on the recent beta, hitting certain checkpoints will transition to a different sport, seamlessly jumping from skiing to biking at a moment’s notice. Perhaps the Riders Ridge Invitational will do this on a larger scale?

20 Player Mass Races on Previous-Gen

Unfortunately, the 64 player number is only applicable for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. On Xbox One and PS4, there will be more than 20 players displayed at once. Granted, this seems to be the only feature gimped by previous-gen hardware – there seems to be feature parity for the rest of the experience (aside from differences in the frame rate and resolution, of course).

Tricks Battle Arena

One of the 6v6 modes that players can participate in is Tricks Battle Arena. This sees two teams competing to perform tricks and rack up as many points as possible to determine a winner. It serves as a good way to partake in the game’s Freestyle system which allows for mixing tricks, rotations, grinds and more into combos. There are 72 unique tricks in total to try out with Auto and Manual modes for grinds and fully remappable controls.

Matchmaking

When you’re out exploring the open world and a friend wants to group up, they can seamlessly teleport to your sport. Speaking to Red Bull, Manceau noted that matchmaking would “seamlessly connect other players based on proximity and sport choice” when in free roam. There is traditional matchmaking as well for different modes and it’s all built on dedicated server tech for “high-quality connectivity between players.”

Post-Launch Content

Riders Republic will be receiving post-launch updates with the Year 1 Pass including eight “exotic kits.” These are a unique addition as they “modify your gameplay experience in the form of gear upgrades to revisit the map with a new perspective.” Players can use these to free roam the map and some activities – Rocket Skis and the Rocket Bike are the first batch, being available on day one. The other exotic kits will be released throughout the year along with two exclusive cosmetic packs. A new sport – BMX – will also be added at the end of Year 1 and includes its own career and progression. Year 1 Pass holders will gain seven days early access to this along with the other exotic kits (which seems to indicate that they’ll be free for all players).

Crossplay and Free Next-Gen Upgrades

Cross-platform play has been confirmed, allowing players across Xbox and PlayStation platforms along with PC and Google Stadia to match together. How this will work in Mass Races is still unknown but there is cross-gen play as well, which could mean no separate matchmaking pools for previous and current gen platforms. On top of this, Xbox One and PS4 players can also upgrade to the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 versions for free.

4K/60 FPS on Xbox Series X and PS5

Along with Mass Races supporting up to 64 players, Xbox Series X and PS5 players can enjoy the game in 4K resolution and 60 FPS. Based on the recent beta, it seems that it’s fairly good at maintaining its frame rate in Mass Races. Whether this is due to a dynamic resolution in such scenarios requires more analysis but so far, it’s looking good.

The winter extreme sports game known as Steep has struggled a bit since it was first released. That doesn’t mean Ubisoft isn’t going to try and drum up some late support for the title.

One Friday, the company, alongside Ubisoft Annecy announced it had officially released update 1.04 and that free DLC for Steep is coming in just over a week. The update has brought a few tweaks, including jumping accuracy as well as an improvement to the mountain view display.

Now that the base game has been worked on a bit more, the firm is hoping offering some more free content will get people more interested. The free Alaska DLC is going to have a new map and some new events, and it will be landing on February 10. Beyond that, there isn’t a ton of information on just what we should expect but free is always good.

Improvements:

• Tweaks to jumping accuracy
• Scaled back the destructiveness of G-force impacts
• Improved the Mountain View display

Additions:

Welcome Dashboard – Displays the most important in-game news and suggests content for players’ current game session.

Live Page – Provides more info on the Steep World Tour and current series going on, as well as which Community Challenges are available to play.

Steep World Tour – A recurring competitive tournament open to all Steep players. Check out the Live Page for more details, including tournament phase and ranking information.

Community Challenges – Challenges made by the Community, for the Community! Selected trail challenges created by the community will be highlighted and made available to all players as a Community Challenge to beat. Look for them in the new Live Page!

New Customization Items – Shhh… they’re a surprise! More will be revealed in due time.

Director Mode – Provides more freedom and Replay Mode options (such as camera types and ambiance) for players to get even more creative in their replay videos.

Hide HUD – And last but not least (and because you asked for it!)… You now have the option to hide the HUD while riding or creating replay videos. You can toggle the HUD display by going into OPTIONS -> VIDEO.

However unlike other extreme sports games in the past, Steep places heavy emphasis on online multiplayer set in a open world free for players to explore. Activities are divided into four different types: Snowboarding, Skiing, Wing-Suit Flying and Paragliding. One of the coolest things about Steep is that it kind of doesn’t bind you to use a specific play style although preferring one over the other is important for achieving the highest reward. Some levels are designed in a way that will only likely work best for Snowboarding whereas others may be best suited for paragliding. At the end of the day, the game gives you the freedom to choose between any style you want but ultimately the level design is going to dictate what kind of style works best.

"The game’s world is surprisingly huge which means there are a ton of challenges to participate in such as check points, trick competitions, and daredevil challenges."

As mentioned before, Steep is set in a wide open world however unlike other franchises, the game encourages you to find the next set of challenges using your binoculars. Although the game automatically pops up new challenges every now and then so that binoculars is never needed  but using it adds a bit of exploration feel to gameplay. Various hidden races and secret areas can be unlocked using your binoculars which adds more content to a game which is already pretty dense with challenges.

From a gameplay perspective, it’s easy to draw comparisons to SSX, however Steep takes a more realistic approach. The open world is divided into seven different regions with the Aravis location being the easiest before you play through the game and reach the harsher areas of Matterhorn. The game’s world is surprisingly huge which means there are a ton of challenges to participate in such as check points, trick competitions, and daredevil challenges. Going to a challenge point (known as drop zone in the game) is extremely easy. Players can either open the in-game map and select the point and you will be transferred there instantly, or they can also use the binoculars and point it towards the challenge they want to participate in and press the required button. In other words, Steep features no loading times when switching between different types of challenges.

The activities in Steep are heavily dependent on the momentum you will carry through a particular level. It’s essentially building up speed as you race down the alps, avoiding obstacles and performing out crazy moves and tricks. If you fail to do so, the game allows you to quickly restart the challenge by merely holding a button. This along with no loading screens is a testament to Ubisoft’s efforts towards building a game that prioritizes gameplay over anything else.

"Steep looks absolutely wonderful during the night time. There is a sense of calm when racing down the alps as the shadows of the night converge towards the player."

The initial few hours of the game are undoubtedly going to be a bit rough as you acclimatize yourself to the difficult control scheme and this is where one of my biggest complain with Steep lies. For some reason or the other, the controls are somewhat non-respondent at times. I found this to be specially apparent while jumping off a slide…the controls simply won’t respond. I understand that all activities in Steep are based on timing but there seems to be some level of input lag which results into an uneven experience at times.

The game also tries to place emphasis on narrative by allowing the spirits of the mountains to tell their story of the day. It just feels weird…I mean how can the player hear the mountain speaking? Are there supernatural elements in the game? No explanation is given as to how and why they speak. It seems that the developer added the narrative angle just for the sake of it and it  feels really out of place.

Steep looks absolutely wonderful during the night time. There is a sense of calm when racing down the alps as the shadows of the night converge towards the player. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said when the sun is out which exposes some of the several graphical shortcomings of this game. We played the game on the Xbox One and jaggies and pop-ins ruled the roost during day time. It felt jarring and we prefer playing the game in late evening, early morning or during the night time. Fortunately, performance seems rock solid and we didn’t witnessed any noticeable frame rate drops.

"Despite featuring a robust physics and gameplay engine, Steep suffers from a ton of glitches. I got stuck inside rocks, got cramped up inside a narrow lane or found myself stuck in a hoarding several times."

As I mentioned before the game features online modes with up to four players in a group. Leaderboards play a big role in the online mode but besides that it’s a ton of fun playing the game with friends. I found this to be a nice little feature where a couple of friends can get along, form a group and race across the amazing vistas of the Alps.

Despite featuring a robust physics and gameplay engine, Steep suffers from a ton of glitches. I got stuck inside rocks, got cramped up inside a narrow lane or found myself stuck in a hoarding several times. And although the challenges can be restarted anytime, moments such as these are frustrating. This is perhaps down to the weird design in some of the levels I played through…they were too narrow and there was no way to get through them comfortably.

However despite its glitches and uncomfortable control scheme, there is a lot of fun to be had in Steep. The sense of racing down the mountain and competing with other players is second to none. Pulling off insane and over the top moves is a lot of fun and the games encourages you to participate in a plethora of actives set across this massive open world. If anything, Ubisoft’s Steep scratched the SSX itch.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox One.

Ubisoft Annecy is not a company that is all that well known to the general public, but it is a studio that has a long history in the Ubisoft world. The firm has contributed to three Splinter Cell games, as well as six Asasssin’s Creed games including Black Flag and Unity. This is the first sports gmae of any kind that Ubisoft Annecy has worked on. Steep is due to launch on the PC, Xbox One and PS4 on December 2, 2016.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Sports

Development

Ubisoft Annecy is working on Steep, after having previously spent quite a bit of time on the multiplayer modes for titles like the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Ubisoft had a number of studios all over the world working on Steep, as Ubisoft Kiev and and Ubisoft Montpelier are also contributing efforts to making the game. According to those working on the game, development for Steep began in the early part of 2013, and was reportedly inspired by the developers’ close proximity to to the Alps. Development for the title was also aided and inspired by another Ubisoft game, Ghost Recon: Wildlands. In that game, there are a number of ways to traverse the vast open world including Paragliding. The company saw how nice it looked to have characters paragliding and wanted to be able to use those mechanics in another game. The team announced it felt winter extreme sports seemed to be the best way to go about creating another game with these mechanics.

The larger Ubisoft company was originally not that excited about producing a game that was entirely about winter extreme sports but was turned around and eventually greenlit Steep when they did a bit of research and saw the massive number of videos posted on YouTube which show these kinds of sports are still very popular. The game was shown off during E3, but Ubisoft Annecy said it couldn’t divulge a ton of information about the game but they did officially reveal it and show off some of the gameplay.

In June of 2016 at E3, Steep was officially announced. In August it was divulged it would be launched for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC on December 2. At the same time it was announced at least one piece of DLC would be launching alongside the game. The Moonlight Pack contains three additional night challenges, three new night outfits, a Wingsuit Sparkle Flare and glowing equipment that can be used in any of the sports in Steep. A season pass was announced but the developers said it likely wouldn’t be available at launch, but would have its date revealed later.

In October, two November open betas were announced. In November of 2016 the season pass was officially revealed and was said to be bringing new sports, costumes and equipment. The packs that are offered in the season pass will be able to be purchased separately or as one big addition. The prices of the season pass and the individual packs have not yet been revealed.

Gameplay

The game is designed to have an open world feel that allows players to find different places they want to go and try different sports and different tricks. The company has said it borrowed from games like The Division in order to have a kind of shared multiplayer mode, where people can pop in and be trying out the same mountain or area in Steep.

There is a Go Pro mode that takes a different kind of point of view in order to show off just how crazy some of the sports and some of the tricks in the game will look when you are trying to pull them off.

There are regular trails that people can try and beat that have been laid out in the game, but users will also be able to create their own courses and trails in the mountains of Steep. The development team has said the players will be able to keep on playing these trails until they are comfortable with them and they can them share them to the public and their friends who can then download those courses into their own game and try them out.

While points are given out to players when they pull off some of the crazier moves in the game, Ubisoft Annecy has said it also really wants to “support failure.” This is because the sports that take place in the game are quite extreme and are going to be near impossible to have a successful go all the time. In one interview, a member of the development team there will even be ways to score points when they have failed to pull off the moves they try.

While the game focuses on players doing their different sports in the Alps, the development team has said it will be introducing a new map for players to play the same sports in Alaska. The season pass will offer other things that can be done in Alaska and it’s presumed this map will be part of a day one patch.

Sports

In the base game version of Steep, players can snowboard, ski, paraglide or use a wingsuit. The season pass will bring other winter themed extreme sports including Rocket Wings, Base Jumping and Speed Gliding. These games will have otehr kinds of equipment and costumes that will only be available in the addons.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game