Opinion: Where have all the motorcycles gone?

This opinion piece was originally part of a prior Traxion email newsletter – sign up to receive these early, direct to your inbox, every week.

Recently, I have been revisiting older racing video games for an upcoming Traxion YouTube video.

It occurred to me that the ten-year period between 2005 and 2015 was the genre’s peak. I’m not talking about the advancements in simulation, mind. Serious sim racers have never had it as good as they do in 2025.

But playing Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Project Gotham Racing 4, Burnout Paradise and Test Drive Unlimited 2 again provides a stark reminder that the more accessible, bombastic racing game has all but disappeared, replaced by high-fidelity realism.

Which suits me, but I also enjoy just smashing some cars up, or experiencing retina-tearing speed within a fantastical world. It’s part of the reason I enjoy Hollywood car chases so much. I can’t recklessly race down a high street in a sports car in real life, so movies and games allow escapism.

Yet, an apparent dearth of contemporary ‘arcade’ games isn’t what struck me the most while revisiting these older titles – it’s the current lack of motorcycles.

To me, the two-wheeled superbikes are even less accessible in the real world than a car. More affordable, certainly, but not being cocooned by a ton of metal makes them feel more risky to me. Which is undoubtedly part of the adrenaline rush a rider receives, but for the more risk-averse? No, thank you.

So racing one virtually is appealing, providing thrills without wearing a costume…

While there are several motorbike racing releases – MotoGP, MXGP, MX vs ATV (real-world DLCs), WorldSBK (VRider) and Monster Energy Supercross – once again, the road-going stuff is absent. In fact, all of the aforementioned games I was playing for an upcoming video are known primarily for their cars, but all featured motorcycles too.

I can’t help but think this is all a bit of a shame. To its credit, Need for Speed Unbound included the bonkers BMW S1000 RR recently – but it was only available in online multiplayer. The Crew Motorfest has bikes and is soon to add a new Triumph, but for all of its other benefits, Ubisoft’s premier racing title has two-wheeled handling more awkward than my attempts at dancing the tango.

Even on the more focused side, Traxion believes there are no current plans for a new TT Isle of Man platform, and RiMS Racing didn’t live up to its potential.

Perhaps the one remaining hope is Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. However, despite being open to the idea of motorcycles when quizzed last year, the development team’s recently announced plans for the next 12 months were devoid of two-wheeled vehicles.

It’s all a bit sad, really. On the flip side, though, there’s a gap in the market. I believe there’s an opportunity for someone to dominate.

Can you imagine once Assetto Corsa EVO (hopefully) gets up to speed, that development team working on an ‘Assetto Corsa Bikes’? I’d be all over that like a rabid Toprak Razgatlıoğlu fan club member… 

This opinion piece was originally part of a prior Traxion email newsletter – sign up to receive these early, direct to your inbox, every week.