Expeditions: A MudRunner Game Will Not Support DLSS, FSR, Or XeSS At Launch

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Expeditions: A MudRunner Game will be released on March 5, 2024.
The upcoming adventure title could give the series a new direction, thanks to the new mechanics.
We interviewed Evgeniy Sorokin, Game Director of Expeditions, over an email Q&A session.

Expeditions: A MudRunner Game is set to expand the off-road adventure series with even more exciting features. Here, you can drive in different terrain and equip yourself with high-tech tools that will assist you in your exploration. Considering how it will be the biggest title in the franchise, Expeditions has garnered the attention of many simulation and adventure lovers.

Saber Interactive was heavily praised for SnowRunner’s driving mechanics, but it has gone beyond that for Expeditions by updating the game engine even further. Combining that with the utility that makes exploration even more “adventurous,” the latest iteration in the MudRunner franchise looks very promising. Taking that as an opportunity, we spoke with Evgeniy Sorokin, Game Director on SnowRunner and Expeditions projects, over an email interview to get more insights into the upcoming title.

Read ahead for the full interview.

Expeditions: A MudRunner Game – via Focus Entertainment.

Could you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your role in the game?

Sorokin: Hi! I’m Evgeniy Sorokin, Game Director on SnowRunner and Expeditions projects. My role is to generally lead the development of the project, which includes helping define what and why we are doing certain things, establishing the development process, and ultimately making sure that the game is fun and unique so it will appeal to our audience.

Expeditions appears to be much more adventurous than the previous games. Is there a particular reason why the studio went in this direction? And will the trend continue in future MudRunner games?

Sorokin: We wanted to experiment with the gameplay formula that is used in MudRunner and SnowRunner, diverging from the classic cargo hauling and finding a new and satisfying game loop.

Exploration on scout vehicles is a relatively small portion of SnowRunner. So in this spinoff, we decided to have more focus on it with improved driving mechanics and all kinds of new features, such as tire pressure control. Additionally, we decided to add tycoon mechanics that introduce a new layer of strategic gameplay that is supported by various gadgets and specialists that the player can take on the Expedition.
It’s too early to tell what direction we will take in the future; for now, we are focused on continued SnowRunner support and the Expeditions launch.

The game utilized a new version of the engine. Could you tell us a bit about the technical changes in this new version?

Sorokin: Most of the changes are in the core driving experience. For example, we introduced a lot of new parameters for tire friction with the terrain since the Arizona map is rocky, and it requires a different set-up compared to SnowRunner. We’ve also been working on a major effort that we’ll unveil very soon—a thrilling technical challenge for our team!

How long has the game been in development, and how many developers have worked on the title?

Sorokin: The game has been in development for two years now, with a dedicated team size of around 50 people.

SnowRunner has received many updates throughout Expedition's development cycle, which I imagine must have also been challenging. How did you manage that with limited resources and developers?

Sorokin: We have several teams that work on content for SnowRunner in parallel and one big team that works exclusively on Expeditions. The transition to this process wasn’t easy, but I believe that right now, we are able to have a stable cadence of updates for SnowRunner alongside all the work needed for Expeditions.

What other major challenges did you encounter during development, and how did you overcome them?

Sorokin: The main challenge was to make sure that the new adventurous gameplay was satisfying enough; we did a lot of iterations over the past two years to make it right.

Do you have any plans to maybe collaborate with other games, whether it be for SnowRunner or Expeditions?

Sorokin: Not at the moment, but we are definitely interested in exploring this possibility in the future.

Have you ever considered a simulation/adventure title focusing more on the marine or aerial side? If so, how would you like it to be?

Sorokin: Right now, we are dedicated to trucking games.

Will the next iteration be a direct sequel to an existing MudRunner game or be a separate instalment, similar to Expeditions?

Sorokin: It’s too early to tell; for now, we are fully focused on SnowRunner and Expeditions.

Could you tell us what graphics modes the studio targets for each version of the game?

Sorokin: 30 FPS/1080p on base consoles (Xbox One, PS4) and 60 FPS/4K on enhanced versions (PS4 Pro/PS5, Xbox One X/Series X|S).

Did the team make use of machine learning or AI content in any part of the development?

Sorokin: No, AI was not used during game development.

Will Expeditions: A MudRunner Game support NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR or Intel XeSS?

Sorokin: Not at launch.

Is there anything else you want to share? Something we haven’t touched upon yet.

Sorokin: We’re thrilled to launch Expeditions and eager to see the players’ reactions to the new features and secrets we’ve added to the game. It’s been a lot of fun working on it, and we have many exciting things planned for the year ahead.

Expeditions: A MudRunner Game was developed by Saber Interactive and published by Focus Entertainment. This off-road adventure will be released on PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC on March 5, 2024. We thank Evgeniy Sorokin for taking time out of his busy schedule and answering our questions.

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