Descenders Next just shadowdropped into early access, and it's Steam Deck verified as well

Descenders Next is a sequel of sorts to Descenders, but it's pretty different. It's still about going down hills really fast, but it's no longer about doing so on pushbikes: instead we have snowboards and mountainboards. I played a little bit last year and loved it, so I'm pretty happy to see it's just shadowdropped on Steam after a delay from its initial April release date.

Like its predecessor, Descenders Next is an early access game. The version you can play has two sports—in the form of snowboarding and mountainboarding—and four biomes. The early access period will last two years, with new sports, biomes, multiplayer modes and modding support to be added during that period, as well as all the usual cosmetic stuff that's par for the course in these games.

Studio No More Robots has also decided that today is Descenders Day, though thanks to recent reporting by PC Gamer's Tyler Wilde I feel it's important to point out that this is not an officially registered day. Nevertheless, it means players of the original Descenders are getting a new race mode, which is the kind of straightforward real-time mode the game has been conspicuously lacking since launch. That's available as a free update right now.

Oh, and Descenders Next is Steam Deck verified too. I haven't tested it myself, so I'm not sure how it'll perform, but the option is there.

"Descenders Next has a blissed-out arcade feel," I wrote in my 2024 preview, "weaving between deathly trees at high speed on my last life before the next park is nail-biting, yes, but overall I’m not too concerned because whether I reach the goal or not I’m loving every moment."

You can grab Descenders Next on Steam right now with a 10% launch discount.