MotoGP 25 brings arcade and pro handling, dirt bikes and mini motos

MotoGP’s back on the real track, and Milestone’s official game is hot on its heels, lifting the veil on its announcement trailer and headed for release at the end of April.

While it looks like the championship will already be sewn up by then, based on Marc Marquez’s frighteningly dominant opening round in Thailand last weekend, by contrast there are a lot of unknowns and curiosities about MotoGP 25 the game.

You can watch the announcement trailer here, featuring inspirational quotes and scuffed-up Aprilias.

Rider career mode is expanding to include a few more activities outside of race weekends, including dirt bike and mini moto racing, which apparently have a bearing on your rider’s fitness level. Series veterans will remember a similar offering in Milestone’s 2016 release Valentino Rossi: The Game, but this time the roster of activities sounds a bit more interwoven into a cohesive career mode structure.

Probably the biggest news about the 2025 incarnation of the series is also, on paper, one of the most prosaic: a choice of arcade or pro handling models.

It’s a significant development because the series has been heading increasingly in an admirable but inaccessible sim direction for a few releases on the bounce. If you think surviving an LFM race in Assetto Corsa Competizione is tough, try logging just one lap without falling off in MotoGP 24 with all the assists off.

There’s a huge amount of satisfaction in mastering its tricky braking and leaning, of course, but that’s scant consolation for newcomers who find themselves being administered multiple tarmac enemas while trying to get round the circuit.

The new arcade bike behaviour, then, is intended as a friendlier on-ramp for those newcomers.

“Jump right into the action with the new Arcade Experience for immediate adrenaline-pumping fun,” reads MotoGP 25’s Steam page, “or master every detail of the track, fuel consumption, and electronics in the Pro Experience, for an authentic MotoGP realism.”

It’s out 30 April for just about all the consoles - PS5 and PS4, Xbox One and Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. It’s also crossplay-enabled on all platforms except Switch.