We have some big news to share with you today. But before we get there, we want to take a moment to walk you through everything that’s been happening behind the scenes.
We’ve always aimed to be transparent about the development of the game, and this update is no exception. We highly encourage you to read everything below to fully understand the context.
The game is still in Early Access. You may encounter performance issues, bugs, or crashes. This is a normal part of development, and your feedback plays a key role in helping us improve the experience.
That said, some early technical decisions led to challenges we hadn’t fully anticipated.
As a reminder, part of the team is still actively supporting the current public and beta versions of the game, bringing updates, content, and optimizations, while another part is working in parallel on rebuilding core systems.
This includes developing a new version of the game from scratch using Unreal Engine 5.7 (or a later version). We’ll transition to this new version once it meets our quality standards. We’ll share more details about this in a dedicated update.
In 2025, we came to a clear realization: the current system used to integrate new vehicles had significant limitations. Adding a new vehicle was far more complex than expected and required a considerable amount of work, far beyond what should normally be necessary.
What initially relied on a single person quickly became a process involving multiple roles (Concept Artists, 3D Artists, Developers, and more). To move forward, we had no choice but to rework and optimize this entire system to add new vehicles.
As you might expect, this took time. But through continuous effort, we managed to untangle and improve this part of the codebase, finally allowing us to move forward with vehicle integration again.
Some of the vehicles currently available in the game raised questions on our side. A few models, some of them quite popular within the community, felt too close to their real-world inspirations, which led to internal discussions and concerns.
To proactively address this, we decided to rework 5 existing vehicles. This was a key priority for us. We didn’t want to move forward with new additions until this point was properly handled.
Part of the team focused on this effort, delivering updated models progressively. Today, these reworked versions are ready, and some are already implemented on the development side.
We are now in the testing phase, ensuring that all parts function correctly across every vehicle, both existing ones and upcoming additions.
Once the reworks were well underway, we also began working on entirely new vehicle concepts.
This process takes time. We start by reviewing player suggestions, especially those shared on our Discord server, then conduct research before adapting each vehicle to the game’s identity, environment, and overall vibe. This involves multiple iterations, both for the exterior and interior design.
After validating the concept art, refining the designs, and completing key production steps, we’re happy to share that two brand-new vehicles are now nearly ready for integration.
We’re entering the final stage before they make their way into the game.
At the same time, we reached out to professionals to gain further clarity on our earlier concerns.
The feedback we received recently brought an unexpected and very positive outcome: we are able to keep the existing vehicles currently present in the game.
Since the reworked versions were already well advanced, it was out of the question to discard all that work. Which brings us to today’s announcement:
Among the 5 reworked vehicles — they won't replace the existing models, they will be added to the game —, some have evolved so much that they may feel entirely new. We’ll let you guess which ones they were inspired by.
To give you a first glimpse, here’s a preview of one of them:
To better align with the game’s artistic direction, we’ve decided to rename several existing vehicles.
This change helps reinforce each vehicle’s identity, as some of the previous names felt too generic.
The Poyopa becomes The Safari.
The Bolf becomes The Club.
The C-15 becomes Le Seigneur.
The UAZ becomes The Bukhanka.
All future communications will use these new names, and we’ll update all related resources, including Wiki. We hope you’ll like them!
With the arrival of these new vehicles, our development schedule needed to be adjusted.
As a result, we’ll be updating the roadmap to properly integrate all upcoming content. This wasn’t initially planned, and we sincerely apologize for the change. However, we believe it’s the right decision to bring these vehicles into the game as soon as possible. All planned updates will be slightly delayed, but the steering wheel support is still on track for Q2 2026.
Of course, we will continue to optimize the game alongside each update. Please note that during Early Access, some updates may introduce new issues or temporarily affect existing features: this is a normal part of the development process.
We’ve just launched our very first survey for Drive Beyond Horizons.
Its goal is to help us better understand who our players are, your gaming habits, and what you’d like to see in the future of the game. Your feedback will directly help us improve Drive Beyond Horizons and guide our upcoming updates. If you have a few minutes, we would greatly appreciate your participation.
Take the survey here: DBH Survey #1 - Let's Talk!
Thank you to everyone who takes the time to share their thoughts with us.
Discord isn’t the only place to connect anymore! We’ve officially launched our subreddit: a new space to share your feedback, ideas, creations, and connect with other players. Join us now: r/DriveBeyondHorizons_
You might also want to check out:
Our latest patch: PATCH NOTE: GARAGE UPDATE & CONTROLLER SUPPORT ↗
Our official Drive Beyond Horizons 2026 Roadmap ↗