Last month we shared a screenshot of our secret project—a new Riptide GP game so fresh we don't even have a name for it yet. For now you can just call it what we call it: “Riptide GP4 (Working Title)” or RGP4 for short. Has a nice ring to it, no?
The game has been in stealth mode for a while now, and we're excited to finally be able to reveal a few more screenshots and details of what we've been working on.
How it started
Water racing is in Vector Unit's DNA. We started with Hydro Thunder Hurricane for Xbox Live Arcade. Riptide GP—our first ever mobile game—followed in 2011. Riptide GP2 came out in 2013, and then Riptide GP: Renegade in 2016.
Since Renegade came out, we always wanted to get back to the water. We love imagining the spray in our faces as we smash across undulating waves at 200kph, barely hanging on for dear life—flying through the air, spinning and busting tricks and crashing back down in a cloud of spray (and sometimes a tangle of ragdolling limbs.)
And so we decided it was time to get back into it.
The ultimate Riptide GP
Each of the three different Riptide GP games has its own different features and content, without a ton of overlap. Riptide GP featured unique race tracks (and reverse tracks). Riptide GP2 had its own set of environments, while adding multiplayer, paintable hydrojets and an unlockable stunt system. Renegade had yet another set of tracks, and still more features: vehicle animations, interactive track elements, and a variety of driver models.
So we started with an idea: What if we made a brand new Riptide GP game, and merged it together with the best of all the earlier Riptide GP games, and combined them, Voltron-like, into one Riptide GP Super Game?
Classic race tracks reborn with modern lighting and special effects. Fan favorite hydrojets rebuilt with enhanced details and particle effects, animated to transform when boosting and steering.
And mixed together with all of this, the new content as well—new hydrojets, new character models, a whole new paint and customization system, and new race tracks. And we're not treating this as one-and-done—we're building for the long haul, with new stuff showing up in the water in the weeks and months after launch.
Take all of that, package it up in one game.
That's Riptide GP4.
Ok but what about...?
You have questions. Here's what I can tell you right now:
It'll be released on mobile
We're going back to our roots with this one. Riptide GP was our first mobile game way back in 2011, and let's just say we've learned a few tricks since then. It's built from the ground up for that smart screen in your pocket—the finely tuned touch controls you know and love, with a few enhancements for extra depth.
It's a return to the racetrack
Renegade was about outlaw racing and Riptide GP4 will be a return to the racetrack—colorful flags, flashing start lines, camera drones overhead, stadiums packed with screaming fans, the whole noisy spectacle. This is racing excitement with visuals to match—sun on the water, neon at night, spray everywhere. You can see the attention to detail in these screenshots, and the game isn't even finished!
It's free to play
Every previous Riptide GP was originally released as a premium app—you had to buy it to play it (RGP2 converted to free 10 years after it was released.) This game will be free to download and play from the start. We want the biggest crowd we've ever had out on the water: everybody racing against each other, competing together on the same leaderboards.
When?!
We don’t know yet. When it’s ready. Stay tuned.
Oh and one more thing...
Grind rails.
More to come
We look forward to sharing more details with you about RIptide GP4 in the coming weeks and months. There’s actually more to talk about, lots more.
For now we are still deeply in the trenches, pulling together all the pieces, refining game controls, tuning vehicle balance and upgrade systems, and building out the world.
For more updates, follow us on the socials or join our Discord server.
And in the meantime, go ahead and dust off those hydrojet skills... you're going to need them!