Third Kind Games, a UK-based AAA studio within Virtuos, teamed up with MTB pro Matt Jones and Cascade Interactive to bring MAVRIX to PC Early Access—building a world bike park in UE5 and tuning controls for authenticity without losing the fun.
Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of Third Kind Games, Tim Dunn, who’s approaching two decades in the industry, digs into the technical lift behind the world and physics, the upcoming January onboarding overhaul, the in-world radio approach, and how community feedback is shaping the road to v1.0 and the 2026 roadmap.
Can you take us back to the beginning: how did MAVRIX originate, and why did Third Kind Games choose to partner with Matt Jones and Cascade Interactive?
MAVRIX began as the meeting point between Cascade Interactive’s ambition to put athletes at the heart of game development: Matt Jones leading the concept alongside Third Kind Games’ (TKG) mission to create standout games that genuinely excite and resonate with players.
We feel privileged to have been trusted as the creative AAA development team to bring Matt’s vision from prototype to a live game in the hands of players. The chance to collaborate with Matt—a top athlete full of ideas, passion, and an already established fanbase—was an unmissable opportunity.
Since TKG joined Virtuos in 2024, how — if at all — has that acquisition influenced your creative process, studio culture, or decision-making autonomy on a project like MAVRIX?
As an established studio with a strong AAA track record, preserving TKG’s autonomy, culture, and processes was always a priority during the acquisition and remains a core part of the value TKG brings to Virtuos.
With closely aligned goals from the start, we have benefited from joining forces with a global developer.
For MAVRIX, this has meant additional support through collaborations with sister studios such as Volmi, which assisted with art asset production.
Looking back on the process of developing MAVRIX, what were the biggest technical challenges TKG faced, and how did you resolve them?
With a modestly sized development team, one of the biggest challenges has undoubtedly been creating the vast fictional bike park full of trails and points of interest.
Our open world is inspired by the rugged Welsh landscape, home to the iconic Red Bull Hardline Wales competition, with Wales being one of Matt Jones’ favourite riding locations. Through a combination of world crafting and procedural tools, UE5, and a huge team effort, we’ve been able to build stunning scenery with a variety of trails catering to enduro and slopestyle, as well as technical challenges.
This is, however, just the beginning, as all of these will continue to expand over time!
The control system aims for a true-to-life biking feel. What core design principles shaped the controls and physics, and what trade-offs did TKG face between realism and accessibility?
From the very beginning, a core principle of the game design targeted by Matt was authenticity, but not at the expense of fun gameplay.
This meant striking a balance between the mechanics, bike handling, and physics to capture the real movement and actions Matt would take as a rider, while also ensuring accessibility and responsiveness.
The gameplay needed to be challenging while providing room for progression, especially for players less familiar with the sport.
For example, we explored rider stamina systems, but since mountain biking (MTB) is primarily a downhill sport, we decided that omitting energy and exhaustion mechanics would be a better experience when traversing the open world between racing and competitions.
TKG has announced a January update focused on improving onboarding. What can players expect from the new First-Time User Experience?
For the PC Early Access release, the FTUE was intentionally lightweight to prioritise core gameplay. As a result, new players were thrust into the open world almost immediately without the opportunity to learn bike controls and finesse their skills.
We knew this was an aspect that needed attention, especially as new skills and tricks were added.
The revised FTUE will include a more comprehensive set of lessons to help every player get comfortable with the basics before hitting the trails.
The game includes an in-world radio system. How did that feature come about? Does TKG plan to expand the soundtrack or station variety, and how is TKG handling music licensing or other legal considerations?
In-game radio stations felt like a natural fit for MAVRIX. They break up the open-world soundscape, offer players musical choice, and bring pro athletes into the experience through unique content and curated track lists that reflect the sport’s character.
Cascade Interactive handled all music licensing, allowing TKG to stay focused on development, including creating original music and jingles.
There is plenty of room to expand the stations and their content in the future. We also had the opportunity to work with Rob Warner, an iconic voice in MTB commentary, which adds an extra layer of interactivity and fun to the world.
MAVRIX launched in Early Access — looking ahead to 2026, what major features are still on the roadmap, and how much of that direction is shaped by player feedback?
Community is a huge part of mountain biking, and we always expected it to play the same role in MAVRIX, especially considering Matt’s existing audience.
Early Access has allowed us to use valuable player feedback that guides and validates our decisions. The community that formed around MAVRIX from day one has only grown.
As we move toward v1.0, players can expect more trails, challenges, progression features, open-world activities, and continued tuning of bike handling and physics.
We also have some exciting new additions planned for 2026 that we will reveal when the time is right!
Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of Third Kind Games
