Descenders Next gets a big multiplayer update as its developer apologises for taking so long with it: 'We're slowly working on getting the feel and flow of Descenders back into Descenders Next'

Extreme sports sim Descenders Next looked primed to be an impressive follow-up to Ragesquid's 2019 hit, taking the fundamentals which made Descenders' downhill biking such a thrill and applying them to snowboarding and mountain-boarding. PC Gamer's Shaun Prescott took it for a spin last year and came away delighted, stating the sequel" adopts all of the best qualities of its predecessor while adding something that was arguably missing before: atmosphere".

Yet it seems supporting the sequel has, ironically, represented an uphill struggle for Ragesquid, with scant updates to Next since its early access release in July. That changed this week, however, as Ragesquid implemented a substantial multiplayer-focussed patch, while also explaining what's been going on behind the scenes.

"We're very sorry for taking so long with updates on Descenders Next, and not being able to deliver what we've been promising yet," wrote Ragesquid's co-owner Rosie Albers in a Steam post. Albers cited a combination of parallel console development and unforeseen obstacles developing the multiplayer patch as key reasons behind the delay, alongside the broader issue of getting the feel of the sequel right.

"Since the Descenders Next launch, we've realized that the way we wanted to tie parks into the world map with the beloved procedural mode in Descenders 1 didn't really resonate with people the way we hoped it would," Albers explained. "Behind the scenes we're slowly working on getting the feel and flow of Descenders back into Descenders Next. So Descenders Next also feels like a game where you go 'okay one more run'."

As a sidenote, I do wonder if Descenders Next hasn't been quite the hit the original was. Its peak Steam concurrent players are significantly lower than the first game, with an all-time high of just 169 players compared to 1,954 for the first game. The daily concurrents are even starker. 613 people were playing Descenders at the time of writing, while just 4 were enjoying the snowier pleasures of the sequel.

Moreover, Ragesquid just put out a big patch for the original Descenders that added new maps and modes. This is the game's first major update in over a year, which makes me wonder whether sales of the original are outperforming its successor, both on Steam and beyond.

As is so often the case, the complicating factor here is the black box that is Game Pass. Both games feature on Microsoft's subscription service, with publisher No More Robots being a big proponent of how the service can help indie games thrive. Indeed, when Descenders Next launched in July, Ragesquid claimed it received over half a million players—a strong number for an indie game in the current climate.

Hence, it's possible that both games are doing just fine, and they are different enough that supporting both simultaneously would make sense, albeit quite a lift for a small developer.

Either way, things are progressing with Descenders Next. The newly released multiplayer update introduces three game modes featured in the original game, namely race mode, the exploration focussed follow-the-leader mode, and the freewheeling park mode. It also adds custom lobbies so you can play privately with your pals, and has introduced a gear-unlock system similar to the one featured in the original.

Ragesquid also offers a glimpse of what'll be coming to Descenders Next in 2026, namely a career mode and a new map. It's worth noting that both games are currently available at a discount, with Descenders' price down 75% to $6.24 (£4.87) and Descenders Next getting 15% off at $25.49 (£21.24). Both discounts end on December 15.