MotoGP2026 is the latest offering from developer Milestone S.r.l , being described on their game page as having “a renewed physics built around a new rider-based handling system, a more complete career mode, dynamic riders rating and much more”. MotorGP25 was widely renowned as the most refined and immersive two-wheel racing experience, so what more could you really expect from this new title, MotoGP2026? The answer is a lot! Let’s dive in and see if I can fit everything in, as this new title is packed with features!

Loading in, you have a selection of game modes to choose from. I will break them down as they are quite in-depth:

Race Off, which has four sub-options: Play Track, Motard, mini bikes, and finally production bikes. The production bikes you can select tro ride are the CRB 1000RR-R Fireblade SP, Ducati Panigale V4S, Yamaha YZF R1 GYTR, Aprilia RSv4 1100 and KTM 990 RC R. For the production bikes you can race at one of the 22 official tracks in MotorGP26 season, for the other mode you have the same courses from last year’s game, Borgo Caselle, Mont Lagarde and a new added track for MotoGP26 game, Canterbury Park. I did find the Play Track and Motard bikes very stiff and rigid to ride.

Multiplayer: play online or split-screen. Online multiplayer has been expanded to 22-player lobbies, based on location and connection quality, to enhance the overall experience. Full crossplay is supported across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, and all platforms include voice chat. You also have the ability to choose between ranked lobbies, friendly lobbies, or create a private race for just you and your friends.

Singleplayer, where you have another four options: Grand Prix, Championship, Time trial and Tutorial. As in career mode, you will have access to all 22 tracks featured in the 2026 season. You are racing against 38 official teams with 70-plus official riders. You have Grand Prix mode, where you race just for the weekend, including all practices, qualifying, warm-ups, sprint and race sessions, which is standard for the whole game.

Championship is where you can design your own custom championship based on your preferences. Time trial, do you want to take home bragging rights? Put your skills against others and see who you can get around the track the quickest.

Career mode, where you can start a career with a customised rider (one you created) or an existing rostered driver. Career mode includes the official 2026 roster and teams for Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP. During this mode, you can stick with the current teams or activate the transfer market straight away to see what rider shuffles occur.

Customisation is the last option; the level and depth of customisation is very impressive. You are given the ability to alter every aspect of your rider, from your gender and helmet design to the stickers and sponsors on your bike and leathers; you can even create your own. This essentially gives you near limitless options for creating your own brand within the game. When playing online, others will also see the changes you have made.

The biggest change in MotoGP26 is the new Rider base handling system. No longer are you controlling the bike; you are controlling the rider’s weight distribution and positioning, like in real-life racing, which affects how the bike handles. The developer states this system is easier to learn to ride, but still harder to master. Don’t panic though; the much-loved, easier Arcade system is still available, introduced in last year’s game. The developer has worked on the Arcade game experience to enhance AI, ensuring a more enjoyable, coherent experience across all classes and providing a decent challenge.

You can select either mode by going to your “Game experience” menu and toggling which version you would like to race with, which I think is great, as the developer isn’t forcing you into one system; you choose what you enjoy. Personally, I enjoyed the new system because it feels more realistic, and you can get your body nice and close to the ground, like in real life. The “Pro Experience” will give you the true experience with no assistance, mirrors real-life bike performance, demands precision and skill, making sure you are monitoring all aspects of your race, weather, grip and racing line.

The Arcade experience provides more stable bikes, smoother braking, increased grip, and the refined racing model mentioned above, and is a lot more forgiving, as the AI balances the total package for you. I also love how, when drivers cut you off and bump you, your rider will throw his hand up in the air, gesturing at them.  Using the camera to glance behind me while racing, I found it a little janky because it didn’t look straight back; it panned around, which, at 300km+, I found myself crashing numerous times. Another neat feature is the dynamic weather system. Once your race is set to a length of over 25% of a full race, you may see the weather change from cloudy to rainy, forcing you back into the pits to change bikes.

The career mode is where MotoGP26 really comes alive. Can you create your own character and go from Rookie to legend? Do you want to write your own history, start with your current favourite riders, and see how they perform with a new team? The choice is yours. Starting off my career, after selecting my class and customising my helmet for my debut race, I was off to my first press conference.

The press conference is a new feature that you will attend at key moments throughout your career. Here, you have multiple options for how you will respond to the media’s questions, which will affect your career and your team.

The questions you are asked relate to your team’s goals. I selected how I wanted to help develop the bike in the team, and I was awarded research skill points. Each bike, regardless of brand or real-world performance, can be the top-performing bike in MotoGP26 with the development and debriefing system. After each race, you provide your team with feedback on its performance, giving you points to try and get your manufacturer to be top of the standings. The media also asks questions about your rivals; depending on my response, it would shape my relationships and goals for the season. Coming across as arrogant and not performing can have detrimental effects on engagement from other teams and on your reputation when the transfer window opens.

Your reputation determines whether you become the first or second driver on the team, which options you choose in the media, and how you negotiate with your own manager can influence whether you succeed and secure the deal of your dreams, or if your arrogance becomes your downfall as you try to climb the ladder. This is a great system to keep you engaged when you aren’t riding and gives you real consequences for your actions, making you think rather than just clicking through the cutscenes.

Another new feature I love is the riders’ ratings cards. Each rider has a ratings card that is built on four key attributes throughout the season. Lap time (the ability to perform on a qualifying lap), pace (reflective of race pace overall), head-to-head (the ability to duel, overtake and sustain on track battles) and reliability (the ability for the driver to deliver consistent results). These four values are dynamically updated based on real-world performance and will be updated regularly as patches are pushed to the game.

Amazing feature and hopefully one that a lot more developers take notice of, as we all know a lot can change throughout the season. You can also collect cards in-game with over 100 to collect across all game classes from every rider, every track and all the iconic bikes, which gives the user a reason to play the other game modes to try and complete their collection.

Another new addition is the Tissot sprint races, introduced to the real MotoGP in 2023 as the final event on Saturday before the race. This gives you a nice little sprint race to test your final setup before race day on Sunday. Something that also took me by surprise is the MotoGP Stewards system that is in the game.

As I was racing around, I could see penalties being applied to drivers for unsafe passing and track limits, scratching my head thinking it was me, I soon realised it was the AI. What a great feature that the game doesn’t just focus on, but also the AI as you are racing around the track.

Visually, the game is a work of art; the accuracy and ambience are the best I have seen in any game. The ability to alter all the graphics on your bike, helmet and leathers is a great feature. Seeing the dirt and dust on your wheels if you go off the track, and even the rider shaking his fist at another rider if they bump into each other, really gives that real feel to the game. Even when you are speeding 200Km/h down a track, you still have time to enjoy the sponsors’ boards, grandstands, caravans, marshals; there is just so much eye candy as you are fighting for survival on the track.

Even the way you can customise your rider to use one or two fingers on the brake and how far they stick their knee out when turning, it’s all these small details that have been refined over many titles and  add up to the complete package. Every bike is a work of art, from the details of the logos to the chassis, which is just stunning.

The sound department is equally polished; the bikes sound different and relevant to each manufacturer with great accuracy. Building on the new recordings from last year’s title, new sounds have been added for the Moto2 and Moto3 bikes, giving them a richer sound from their smaller engines. The commentary during the race feels very authentic and includes some nice background noise as you listen.

Overall, MotoGP26 developers Milestone S.r.l. have again taken the motorcycle genre gaming to a new level. Rather than rest on their laurels, they have again upped the ante, introducing a rider-based handling system, Rider cards, visual accuracy with bikes, teams, and leathers, coupled with near-unlimited customisation, and created what can only be described as a masterpiece of gaming.

You are not just getting a reskin of the MotoGP25 game; you are getting a whole new experience, and that will keep you on the racing line for some time with all its additional features and collectibles as you progress through different game modes and a smile on your face when you finally make it from rookie to pro. Then you can go test your skills in multiplayer and see how you stack up with the larger lobbies, getting out of shape under braking or the speed wobble on accelerating. This game keeps you on a knife-edge.

Written by: Mike Bridge