Ubisoft certainly loves to play the long game, as the open world extreme sports game Riders Republic is now entering its 5th year of live service and still going strong.
Announced during the 5th Anniversary Showcase is the addition of Nomad Mode. This is basically the game’s offline mode where you can explore the open world and make progress through the careers without an internet connection. Progress from Nomad Mode will then be automatically synced when the game is connected online again.
Nomad Mode (offline mode) for Riders Republic will be added to all platforms on December 9.
The timely addition of Nomad Mode comes together with the announcement of Riders Republic to be released on Nintendo Switch 2, which will also launch on December 9. You can play Riders Republic on the go without having to connect to an online hotspot while out and about, which is cool.
This also means that another Ubisoft game will thankfully escape the fate of The Crew, which is not only has its servers shut down, but doing so rendered the game entirely unplayable even with a legitimate digital or physical copy. This choice of leaving an online-only game without an offline mode option also kick started a whole movement to push for games to not be killed this way.
On a similar note, The Crew 2 already has an offline mode of sorts labelled as Hybrid Mode. The Crew Motorfest has yet to have an offline mode despite Ubisoft announcing one is coming, and despite the game already available on Switch 2 which means you can’t really play that title on the go, unlike Riders Republic.
On top of that, Riders Republic will be getting crossover content, featuring other Ubisoft titles which includes Assassin’s Creed, Rayman, Just Dance, The Crew Motorfest, For Honor, Skull and Bones and Brawlhalla. Plus, there will be “an exclusive in-game concert experience” ala Fortnite, featuring Belgian DJ Henri PFR.
Riders Republic lets you bike, ski, snowboard, wingsuit and rocket-suit around the open world playground inspired by US National Parks. Over 17 million players have touched the game some capacity (it’s available in various game subscription offers, hence “players” not “copies sold”) and if you haven’t tried it out yet, a free weekend is happening right now, from October 22-26.
Riders Republic is available now on PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, and coming to Switch 2 on December 9.