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Riders Republic: A Seven-Park Playground That’s Loud, Loose and Occasionally Brilliant

Riders Republic review: Ubisoft Annecy's 64-player sports game mashes seven US parks into one map for biking, skiing and wingsuit. Score: 7.7/10.

By mitch·3 min read
A rider descends a snowy slope amid a mountain range, board raised high.

Ubisoft Annecy built a playground, not a simulation. Riders Republic throws mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding and wingsuit flying onto one enormous map, and asks up to 64 players to race through it at once. It came out October 28, 2021, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. The result is a sports game that is loud, loose and occasionally brilliant, and it lands at 7.7 of 10.

Trailer, via Ubisoft.

Bryce Canyon, Yosemite and Five More Parks in One Map

The open world is the headline. Riders Republic meshes seven distinct locations in the Western United States — Bryce Canyon, Yosemite Valley, Sequoia Park, Zion, Canyonlands, Mammoth Mountain and Grand Teton — into a single map. That is not a gimmick. It means the run you pick decides the sport you play, and the seams between parks are where the game gets interesting.

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The four main activities are mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding and wingsuit flying. Ubisoft calls it a “massively multiplayer sports game,” and Mass Races back that up with 64-player fields. The PS4 and Xbox One versions support only about 20 players, a gap worth knowing before you buy on old hardware.

Tricks Battle Arena and Six Career Paths

Competitive play goes beyond the mob. Tricks Battle Arena is a 6v6 mode where each team performs as many tricks as possible to score Trick points, and the highest score wins. It is the cleanest expression of what Riders Republic wants to be: fast, readable, and built for a crowd.

The career mode splits into six disciplines — Bike Freestyle, Bike Racing, Snowboard/Ski Freestyle, Snowboard/Ski Racing, Wingsuit and Rocket Wingsuit. Each has its own progression path. Milestones pull you toward real events: the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Red Bull Rampage, Red Bull Joyride and the X Games. Sponsors follow. The endgame is the Riders Ridge Invitational, described as “a never seen before multi-sport competition featuring all sports in one single event,” where you switch sports at will.

Here is how the modes stack up:

Mode Players Format
Mass Races Up to 64 Open free-for-all
Mass Races (PS4, Xbox One) About 20 Open free-for-all
Tricks Battle Arena 6v6 Team trick scoring
Career Single player Six disciplines
Social hubs Multiplayer Meet and interact

Where the Seven-Park Bet Pays Off

The career structure is the part that matters most, and it is also the thinnest. Six progression paths and a sponsor ladder give you reasons to keep riding, but they are a frame around the sports rather than a story. Unlockable gear, outfits and cosmetic items fill the gaps. The social hubs, where players meet and interact, do more for the game’s identity than any reward track.

What holds up is the map. Seven parks in one space is an ambitious bet, and it pays off because the sports are genuinely different from each other. A wingsuit line over Zion does not feel like a bike run through Mammoth Mountain. That variety is the reason to stay.

A film adaptation is in development, which tells you Ubisoft sees the world as bigger than the game. On the strength of this map, that is not unreasonable.

The Verdict on Riders Republic

Riders Republic is not a deep game, and it does not pretend to be. The 64-player races are its best idea and its messiest execution; the career mode is a checklist with good scenery. But the seven-park world is a real achievement, and the four sports give it range that most racing games never attempt.

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