Estimated 10-20 minutes to read
Howdy folks,
We're thrilled to announce the launch of the 2nd official Wreckfest 2 development blog – Career Part 2!
But before we begin, we wanted to say a huge THANK YOU for the incredible response to Career - Part 1 — Your feedback is invaluable to us and helps us shaping Wreckfest 2!
And to refresh everyone’s memory, let’s do a quick recap of Career Part 1:
There we’ve put light on what makes Wreckfest 2 tick, starting with the core design pillars that guide development and the three player profiles that they are built around. We also introduced the different motorsport disciplines we support and how players rank up through their divisions. And most importantly, we talked about how freely you can progress across the various career events by using Unlock Points.
With that covered, let’s dive straight into Career Part 2 and take a closer look at these Unlock Points, which are used to drive progression in the new career system.
Achieving accomplishments rewards you with unlock points, the main currency of career progression. Once you've accumulated enough unlock points, you can spend them to unlock new events in any discipline you choose.
This system gives you genuine agency over your career path. Focused entirely on demolition derby so far? You could spend your points to unlock the next derby division, or you could branch out and unlock the first division of European Racing to try something different. Found yourself stuck at a challenging division? Pivot to another discipline, earn some points there, then come back stronger.
The further you progress, the more points are required to unlock subsequent divisions. This creates a natural sense of escalation and accomplishment without forcing you down any particular path. And because you're not locked into completing specific events in a specific order, you can always make progress doing something you enjoy.
We haven’t mentioned challenges or special events yet but fear not, those often quirky events were a staple of the original Wreckfest and loved by many, and we definitely haven’t forgotten about them! So yes, in addition to the core progression paths, there will be special exhibition and invitational events that unlock based on your progress, owned vehicles, or playstyle.
Optional events serve multiple purposes. First, they break up the potential monotony of grinding through division progression. When you've been racing bangers for hours, an invitation to a ridiculous harvester demolition derby can be a nice surprise and a refreshing palate cleanser. Maybe we will even pit you against a fleet of school buses with Supervan and watch our Discord server light up (you know, we're serious)!
Secondly, we feel like these sorts of special events could encourage experimentation. Maybe you've been long focused on high-class cars, but an optional trophy invites you to a low-class event again, giving you a reminder of grassroots Wreckfest action. Or perhaps you get challenged to a lawnmower race against harvesters. Why? Because it's hilarious, and we want you to experience the full breadth of what Wreckfest's physics can do and maybe inspire your own experimentation.
Third, optional events are perfect for introducing new post-launch content in context. Added a new car? Create an exhibition series around it. New game mode? Present it as an invitational challenge. This keeps the career feeling alive and evolving rather than static and fixes one of the shortcomings of the original Wreckfest.
Optional events can have varied requirements: maybe you need to reach a certain division, own specific vehicles, or demonstrate a particular playstyle. They're designed to surface interesting opportunities and guide you toward content you might not have discovered otherwise.
One detail we're particularly excited about is how disciplines are distributed across regional branches. Not every discipline will be available everywhere because that really wouldn't make sense in the real world.
Banger racing, for example, is a fundamentally British motorsport with some European spread. It would be bizarre to place Banger Racing events in the USA where the sport isn't known. Similarly, certain types of US focused racing events wouldn't make sense in Europe. Even though it’s a game, we want the career to feel authentic and grounded in real-world motorsport culture while also giving the difference disciplines their own identity.
However, this doesn't mean you'll never see unusual combinations. That's where the aforementioned optional events will shine: you might get invited to a special “Bangers Go USA” exhibition event that brings banger racing to the US continent as a novelty. It's the difference between treating something as a standard part of the competitive landscape versus a special crossover event. Both can exist, but the context matters.
Players can freely compete in any region simultaneously as long as they've unlocked the appropriate discipline and division. Your European Racing campaign and your American Racing campaign can progress in parallel without interfering with each other.
Here's something traditional linear career modes struggle with: expansion. When your career is a fixed chain of events, as a developer adding new content post-launch is awkward. Do you insert it in the middle and make players replay content? Or tack it on the end where only dedicated players will see it? Wreckfest suffered from this shortcoming, but we are hellbent on fixing the issue for the sequel.
Our modular system described above elegantly solves this problem. Because progression isn't tied to specific events but rather to accumulating accomplishments and points, we can seamlessly add new content at any time:
New vehicles and tracks can be integrated into existing or new accomplishments
New events can be added to current divisions without disrupting player progress
Entirely new divisions can be added to existing disciplines
Even completely new disciplines can be introduced
Seasonal or limited-time optional events are possible
This way, the career mode becomes a living, breathing entity that grows alongside the game's lifespan. Players who completed the base career have reasons to return because new accomplishments and challenges keep appearing. Even better, because there's no linear path, new content in the “earlier” divisions doesn't feel like backtracking: it's just more options to pursue for those who are just starting out and a nice filler to earn more points for more experienced players.
This expandability is crucial for our post-launch strategy. We want Wreckfest 2 to be a game you keep coming back to, not something you finish once and shelve, and the career mode needs to support that vision.
Let's bring this back to what matters: your experience playing Wreckfest 2.
Whether you're a returning Wreckfest veteran or new to the series, you'll find a career mode that respects your time and preferences. You're not forced into a predetermined grind. You're not punished for playing your way. You're not stuck because one event is giving you trouble.
Want to be a pure demolition derby champion who rarely races? Go for it. The career supports that path with depth and meaningful progression. Prefer racing but occasionally enjoy some wrecking on the side? The scoring system rewards both, letting you balance them as you see fit. Just want to experience the wildest, most chaotic stuff the game has to offer? You got covered.
The career mode is designed to let you roleplay your fantasy racing career authentically. You start small, work your way up through the ranks, hit meaningful milestones, unlock better cars and events, and eventually become a legend. All while playing the way that's fun for you.
One final point: The career and metagame don't exist in isolation as they're directly linked to other areas of the game to create a cohesive experience that rewards you for progressing, experimenting, and interacting with each other.
Vehicle Building – As you progress through divisions, you'll need better cars and upgrades. The career motivates you to engage with the expanded car building and upgrading systems, which in turn affects your performance in events.
Customization – Career progression can reward you with unique customization items, liveries, and parts that let you express yourself and stand out from the crowd.
Sharing – We want you to share your creations with other players. The metagame will promote this by rewarding you for sharing and using community content.
This interconnected design means every aspect of the game supports and enhances the others. Your career progression opens up new customization options. Your customization choices reflect your playstyle in the career. Your shared creations earn you rewards that help your career. It all ties together.
The career mode we're building for Wreckfest 2 represents a fundamental philosophy shift. We're moving away from forcing players down a single path and toward empowering them to chart their own course through the world of alternative motorsports.
It's more complex to design and build than a traditional linear career, absolutely. But we believe it's worth it because it creates a more engaging, replayable, and personal experience. Your career will genuinely be your career, not just the same path everyone else follows.
For now, we wanted to lay out the big picture: why we're doing this, what it means for the game, and how it'll let you play Wreckfest 2 the way you want. And to be honest, we can’t wait to show it all to you!
That's a hefty amount of information to digest, and we've only just scratched the surface of what we're building for Wreckfest 2. In future blog posts, we'll be diving deeper into specific aspects of the game as we want your feedback on everything we're building. Tell us what you’d love to see in the game, what concerns you have, and especially if you have any crazy ideas we absolutely need to implement!
Before we wrap up, we want to address one important thing: we know that some of what we're sharing today is still in development and might change based on your feedback and our testing. When we show you our design plans, we're being transparent about our goals but we're also acknowledging that iterative development means things evolve, so please keep in mind that pretty much everything is subject to change if we figure a better approach. We're not going to overpromise but we're going to work with you to make this the best game we can, and rest assured, it will be Wreckfest through and through.
We're on an epic journey here, and we couldn't be more excited to have you along for the ride. This blog is just one of the ways we're going to stay connected with you throughout development. We'll also try to be active on our community forums, social media, and wherever else you want to hang out and talk about alternative motorsports mayhem.
To wrap this post up for good, here's our question for you: What playstyle appeals to you most: Racer, Crasher, or Bonebreaker? And which disciplines are you most excited to dive into? Let us know on our Discord server, the Wreckfest subreddit or wherever as we're genuinely curious to hear how you're thinking about approaching the career.
Thanks for reading our first dev blog post. We'll be back soon with more deep dives into how we're building Wreckfest 2. Until then, let’s keep the comms open! Drive hard and die last.
— The Bugbear Team