It’s been a turbulent time for Three Fields Entertainment.
After years of development and several delays, Wreckreation was released last October to a muted reception. A few months later, the small studio announced it had split from its publisher, THQ Nordic.
The situation looked bleak. Facing the risk of redundancies, the studio resorted to Patreon in the hope of securing funding from a community of passionate fans who grew up playing Burnout and continue post-release updates. Some of these players were given early access to updates to provide feedback.
Fast forward nine months, and Wreckreation 2 has been announced as a surprise sequel. It’s helmed by the same team as the original, reformed as a new studio: When Tides Turn.
“It’s been a rollercoaster,” Studio Head and Executive Producer Fiona Sperry reflected on the last few months in a media briefing. “But it’s been fun. I love working with our players.”
Led by Sperry, the team has collectively worked on over 20 arcade driving games, from the Burnout series to Split/Second. Its aim is to “become the leading independent studio serving arcade racing players” and “the brand that defines the genre for the next generation.”
“We want to build the games these players have been asking for, which is about returning to the feelings that make arcade racing compelling,” Sperry explained. “It’s all about that feeling of threading through traffic at impossible speed and somehow holding it all together.”
However, the developer believes there is still a strong appetite for chaotic arcade racers, which have largely disappeared since Burnout went dormant. “We don’t think the satisfaction for players comes from purely collecting cars or completing checklists. We think it comes from becoming a faster, more skilful and aggressive driver,” said Sperry.
With EA holding the rights to the series and Criterion Games becoming a Battlefield-only studio, Burnout seems unlikely to return. Wreckreation 2 aims to fill this void and recapture the spirit of Burnout Paradise.
“If you ask somebody what’s a great arcade racing game, they’ll still say Burnout – despite the last release launching in 2008,” said Sperry, who worked on every title in the beloved arcade racing series at Criterion.
When Tides Turn’s passion for arcade racing is palpable. “For years, people have been telling me the audience for arcade racing has gone – that it disappeared. I don’t believe that. I think the audience is still there. The big guns of the industry have concentrated on fewer, bigger titles, meaning it perhaps hasn’t had the same focus it once had.”
“Many players still return to the old titles because they feel modern arcades have moved away from the sort of intensity, pressure and memorable gameplay that they loved from those old games.”
With its high-speed takedowns and spectacular, Wreckreation appeared to be a response to this demand. But its scope was arguably too ambitious for the small team, with a large open world and track creation tools. Sperry believes the original game was misunderstood.
“Wreckreation wasn’t actually an attempt to recreate Burnout,” she reflected. “It was an exploration of freedom and creativity in racing games. That was a continuation of unfinished work at the end of Paradise.”
“It was about asking the question: what if we gave players an enormous amount of freedom? People like freedom; they like creativity. They enjoy being part of this community and the ability to build and share. And that community is still incredibly active today.
“As we pushed further towards creativity and player expression, we moved away from some of those principles that made arcade racing compelling.
“The driving, that physicality, the pressure. Those memorable moments we can still remember from way back. That’s something we’ve learned is important going forward.”
Back to basics
As a result, the sequel is going back to basics. Set in Heartbreak City, the map is smaller than its predecessor’s, with a coastal setting reminiscent of Burnout Paradise.
This new approach has resulted in a location that’s “more dense, busier and more alive,” according to Art Director Phil Pillpot.
From our hands-on in a restricted area of the map, Heartbreak City feels more rewarding to explore than the previous barren location. The city is adorned with skyscrapers and distinct landmarks such as an airport, docklands and a drawbridge, along with denser traffic and destructible scenery. It’s a welcome improvement over the last game’s enormous but ultimately empty map.
As the team explained, switching to an urban location provides more opportunities to battle with opponents by slamming them into walls and traffic. Impacts feel weightier when ramming into the more aggressive AI rivals, making takedowns feel more satisfying.
Vehicle damage is also a step up from the last game, with wheels flying off, improved bodywork deformation and more dramatic camera angles.
“Over the last six months, we spent a lot of time talking to players, moderators and each other about what worked and what didn’t,” said Sperry.
“And we kept coming back to the same conclusion. We didn’t need a bigger game: we just needed a more focused one, and we needed to make it in a way which we owned completely.”
“You only find out how good your game is when people start properly playing it”
Unlike the first game, Wreckreation 2 is being self-published. Additional funding has been secured from a grant, and the studio is seeking further investment from other partners, including angel investors.
“It’s incredibly easy to self-publish these days. We did it on some of our earlier titles when we first started out as an indie studio, and all the platform holders make it a lot easier than it used to be,” said Sperry.
This has also enabled When Tides Turn to collaborate with the community throughout its development.
“We know that Wreckreation didn’t fully deliver the experience they [players] were looking for. But it did bring together a passionate community determined to help us find it,” said Sperry.
Over the past few months, selected players have helped shape the game, providing regular feedback from work-in-progress builds. Public demos are also planned.
“That means showing work throughout development,” said Sperry. “However scary that is, it’s quite different from how we’ve worked in the past. There’s no point waiting. You only find out how good your game is when people start properly playing it.”
“There’s this incredibly tightly connected but still active online community where these long-running communities influence how games in the genre are perceived and discussed.
“Our theory is that there is a highly engaged audience willing to financially support and play arcade driving games, and we’ve seen that first hand. Our new company exists to become a long-term home for that audience.”
Wreckreation 2 is at an early stage of development, but considering it’s only been in development for a few months, the early signs are promising. By refocusing on the breakneck speed and brutal crashes that made the Burnout games so compulsive, the sequel could become the Burnout Paradise successor fans have been waiting nearly 20 years for.
A launch date is yet to be confirmed, but Wreckreation 2 is targeting a 2027 release on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
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