The Complete Wreckfest News and Development History Guide
This page is the entry point into NCG.Archive’s record of Wreckfest news and development history — the trail of dev-diary posts, build announcements, and milestone updates that Bugbear Entertainment published while turning a tech demo called Next Car Game into Wreckfest, the demolition derby racing game. This was the original Next Car Game blog, and it remains the index for all Wreckfest news going forward; the full year-by-year Wreckfest development history account lives on the interactive development timeline.
Wreckfest Development History, By Era
The Next Car Game Reveal
Bugbear Entertainment unveils its tech demo and soft-body damage engine, and the earliest weekly-report posts start documenting build progress. Pre-orders grow from roughly 3,000 to more than 10,000 once footage of the demo starts circulating online.
2013 ChapterEarly Access and the Wreckfest Rename
Steam Early Access ships just before Christmas 2013, with Build #2 reportedly bringing in over $1 million in its first week. Later in the year, Next Car Game is formally renamed Wreckfest alongside Build 6's 18-player multiplayer — read the full name-reveal story.
2014 ChapterSteam Workshop and Modding Support
An April 2016 update adds modding support, followed a month later by full Steam Workshop and track-modding tools — laying the groundwork for the modding and multiplayer coverage in the guides section.
2016 ChapterWreckfest Development History: The Numbers Behind the Story
This Wreckfest news archive exists because the numbers behind Next Car Game's development were unusually well documented in public for a small studio's Early Access project. By October 2013, Bugbear Entertainment had booked just over 3,000 pre-orders through the official site — a modest number for a soft-body-damage racing game with no publisher marketing budget behind it. That changed fast once the studio gave fans something to watch: a free playable "Sneak Peek" Technology Demo, released to newsletter subscribers between December 9 and 17, 2013, that put the vehicle-deformation engine directly in players' hands for the first time. Footage of the demo spread on YouTube, and pre-orders more than tripled, past 10,000, before Build #1 had even shipped.
Steam Early Access Build #1 launched just before Christmas 2013 with two cars, three tracks, and race configurations scaling from 2 up to 24 cars. A second, pre-order-exclusive "Sneak Peek Technology Demo 2.0" followed, adding AI-driven traffic cars and a physics cannon on top of the original free demo. Build #2 went up on Early Access in January 2014, and Bugbear reported over $1 million in sales in its first week alone — a strong result for a game still called Next Car Game at the time. The name Wreckfest didn't arrive until October 3, 2014, announced alongside Build 6, which brought 18-player online multiplayer (with 24 players as the stated goal), four modes — Racing, Demolition Derby, Deathmatch, and Team Deathmatch — plus a new track and car; the full story of that rename is covered on its own page in this Wreckfest development history archive.
The post-rename years kept adding the features Wreckfest is still known for today. A Modding Support update shipped on April 20, 2016, followed a month later, on May 20, 2016, by full Steam Workshop integration and custom track modding, with example track data and modding documentation bundled for creators. Wreckfest left Early Access for a full 1.0 release on PC via Steam and Origin on June 14, 2018, then came later to PlayStation and Xbox consoles. In November 2018, THQ Nordic acquired a majority stake in Bugbear Entertainment, closing out the arc this Wreckfest news archive was built to preserve — from a 3,000-pre-order tech demo to a console-owned racing series.
Where to Go From Here: A Wreckfest Guide to the Rest of the Archive
Development Timeline
The full, illustrated Wreckfest development history from 2013 reveal to 1.0 release.
Read the TimelineBugbear Entertainment
Who built Wreckfest, and what the Helsinki studio made before it.
Studio ProfileIn-Car Entertainment
Dash screens, connected phones and what passengers can actually play while the car is parked.
Read the EntryWreckfest News: Frequently Asked Questions
What was Wreckfest called before it was Wreckfest?
Wreckfest was originally developed and marketed under the working title Next Car Game, the name used throughout its 2013 tech-demo phase and early Steam Early Access builds, before Bugbear Entertainment formally renamed it in 2014. This page was the Next Car Game blog during that period, which is why it still carries that history.
Does this archive cover Wreckfest 2?
This archive’s primary record is the original Wreckfest’s development history, from the Next Car Game tech demo through 1.0. It is maintained as a historical reference rather than a rolling news feed.
Is there a guide to Wreckfest modding and multiplayer?
Yes — Steam Workshop track modding and multiplayer setup are covered in the Wreckfest guides section, drawn from the same development history documented here.
Who made Wreckfest, and what did they build before it?
Wreckfest was developed by Bugbear Entertainment, a Helsinki studio previously known for the FlatOut series. The studio's full history, including its earlier titles and its acquisition by THQ Nordic, is on the Bugbear Entertainment page.