- Airframe Ultra Beta 5 Recap - 18 September 2026
Hey, racers. I'm Buddy, Head of Publishing for Akupara Games, and today, I'm stepping in for Riv because this is the big one. The end of Beta 5, where we announced our release date as November 5th, 2026. Today, I'm going to walk you through the story of developing Airframe Ultra across all its betas, what we've been looking to playtest, and where the game is headed when it launches in November. But let's start with a pretty quiet change we made. "You've got a chop-shop hoverbike, a rusted machete, and blood on the motorway."This is a new line in the store copy and it’s the whole thesis of Beta 5. This is the beta where we’ve put all the Megacity West pieces together. A place where you claw your way up from nothing, race by race. Where you build a bike from scraps and pieces. Where you win games by the skin of your teeth. So, let's talk about how we got here, what Beta 5 actually does, a…
- Airframe Ultra Releasing November 5th - 6 September 2026
Hey racer,Airframe Ultra releases November 5th! We are stashing the weapons and fuel to prepare for the launch. Deperada, Bandit 99, Nuclear Them, Jackrabbit, and your friends will be there ready to kill everyone in their way. Be quick or be dead– either way, be there. -riv otter
- Beta 5: Desperada is now live! - 3 September 2026
Hey racers, Beta 5: Desperada is now live!Grab your helmets and start your engine! The servers are running and the playtest button is live on the Airframe Ultra store page! Go click it and download the build and join the playtest! This beta will include a new progression system, shops, and bike building!DesperadaTakes a lot of jet fuel to run a city of billions and down in Baja, Desperada makes sure there’s plenty flowing into the ultra circuit racing of Megacity West. Some say she’s an insider, a JP-8 broker who uses her connections to smuggle fuel on the cheap. Some say she’s the daughter of a fuel baron, trying to right her father’s wrongs. Some say she’s just a badass who takes what she wants and doesn’t give two shits about the rest. Whoever she is, thank you the next time you drop a boost on Night Ride and slip into first.FeedbackWe would love to hear from you if you have any feed…
- Celebrating 10 Years of Akupara Games - 20 August 2026
Hey Racers, Next month we are kicking off our 10 year anniversary and we are celebrating with our first annual Akupara Direct, hosted by Alpha Beta Gamer, where we are announcing some news for Airframe Ultra!The Akupara Direct will showcase plenty of games from our library, revealing all kinds of news, especially something new for Rain World!I’ve been asked to set up something real fun that I think you all will enjoy. Some behind the scenes stuff that has yet to see the public eye. Also, did I mention that there is some Airframe Ultra news appearing in this Direct? You don’t want to miss it– like my boss any time he tries to kill me in the game.We will be streaming the event on the Akupara Twitch! Hope to see you there on September 6th at noon PST!-riv otter
- Q&A with Josh - 3 August 2026
Hey Racers,In the Airframe Ultra Discord, we opened up a channel for players to ask questions and voted on which questions to send to Josh, one of the developers on Airframe Ultra! What is the purpose and goal of the playtests?These pre-release playtests help us gauge what is and isn’t working with the design, balance, and flow of the game. They also help us get more eyes on the game to spot potential problems that we can fix before launch! Certain improvements we’ve already made have included bike and weapon balance, the addition of circuits, and input device improvements. Will old maps be revisited/updated by the time of 1.0 or later?We plan to take a polish pass at our older maps before 1.0, and to keep an eye on how the community feels about any high or low points in the maps following release. Will there be some kind of official way of making custom maps?This isn’t on the roadmap,…
- Weekend Megacity West Open Now - 26 June 2026
The servers are up! The cops have been bribed. Download the Airframe Ultra Playtest and get started!We will be streaming Airframe Ultra at 10am PST today and 10am PST on Monday where you can beat up Buddy, our publishing lead and leave me alone because I am a C-tier racer. -riv otter
- The Airframe Ultra Megacity Open Starts This Weekend! - 23 June 2026
Well, well, well, looks like we're puttin' the servers back online. The Airframe Ultra Megacity Open is live ALL WEEKEND starting Friday at 9AM PT and we're bookending it with streams on the Akupara Twitch Friday and Monday. Plenty of murder and mayhem to be had on the circuit. And if you wanna see what the devs are cooking for the NEXT beta (coming later this summer), put eyes on the stream on Monday. You know where to find us.
- Airframe Ultra Stream on April 17th - 13 April 2026
Hey racers,Slower traffic stays to the right. We will stream Airframe Ultra on April 17th 10am PST and show you how it’s really done.-riv otter
- What We Learned From the Open Beta? - 2 April 2026
Hey Racers,Alright, now time for the big, cruiser-sized part of the dev log. What we learned from the open beta.During Steam Next Fest, we hosted an open beta for Airframe Ultra for the week, where racers could beat each other into a puddle along the different race tracks while testing the new circuit system. Everyone had a ton of fun and are already asking for a beta 6– which means I’m already losing track of what beta version we are on. I’m glad the community is keeping up with it. CircuitsThe new circuit system was the big change that we showcased in this beta. Circuits are 3 races where your points carry over and the person with the most points after all three races win. Now, there is a caveat to this, you must have won at least one race. So, you may be 50 points ahead of everyone but still lose the circuit because you didn’t win the race. The podium is for winners!It seems overall…
- Thank You for Playing the Open Beta - 2 March 2026
Hey Racers, The open beta is now over. Thank you all who took the time to try out the open beta. We still have a lot to do and I'll write a dev log communicating on this open beta, what we learned about it, and more once I get the data on it. I hope you enjoyed the beta and if you did, please consider giving us a wishlist! You can also join the Airframe Ultra Discord to talk with other racers! -riv otter
- Community Sizzle Reel - 27 February 2026
Hey Racers,I hope you have been enjoying the open beta and Steam Next Fest. In the Airframe Ultra Discord, we asked the community for clips of gameplay of any of the betas and demo that they played. Thank you all who submitted their clips!Open beta ends Monday morning so be sure to check it out before it is too late! Download the Airframe Ultra demo to play the beta and destroy the competition. -riv otter
- Open Beta Patch Notes - 24 February 2026
Hey Racers, New patch for the open beta!Please update your game or you may experience an error! Here are the full patch notesFixed Audio issue of music cutting out intermittentlyFixed mechanical issues with HopperFixed tutorial messagesUpdated rooms list info and sorting to be more reasonable and accurateThe host is now able to postpone a vote even if it has already startedReduced Kick stun by a little bitShow which match within a circuit you're on when entering a roomIf you experience any issues please report them here! https://bugs.akuparagames.com/airframe-ultra/bugsIf you want to join the open beta, then download the Airframe Ultra Demo!-riv otter
- The creators of Rain World were tired of making something so depressing, so their next game is a 'loud and dumb and fast' cyberpunk racer you can try in the Steam Next Fest - 24 February 2026
Airframe Ultra is looking to be the good kind of multiplayer game: No engagement hacking or battle passes—you pay once, but it has lasting value and, depending on its success at launch, dev support. There's no ranked play, but it's still a game with competitive depth and mechanics to master... Read more.
- Open Beta Starts Now! - 23 February 2026
Hey, Racers! Open beta starts now! All you have to do is download the Airframe Ultra demo to play! No sign ups. No forms. No fuss. Just download the demo and play!Let’s get some FAQ out of the way: How long will the beta run for?The beta will run for a week ending on March 2nd at 9am PST.What tracks are available for the beta?All of the tracks from the previous betas! OceandriveChasmNightrideStormdrainQuarryEstateI experienced a bug, where should I post it?If you find a bug, please report it in the bug report forum! That will be the easiest place for developers to locate and track the bugs you report! Wait, where is the local play option? Where's the private rooms options? Are you removing it?Don’t worry it will come back! We aren’t removing it. Some of the changes made didn’t work in local play or private rooms so we removed it for the time being. It will be back in the future. EDIT: W…
- Airframe Ultra in Dead Pets - 5 February 2026
Hey racers, The cops have been trying to silence us for too long. The punk band in Dead Pets have agreed to play the song Quarry by James Primate to get our word out and stand up against the injustice of the world.Struggling punk rock band, Dead Pets, are looking for their big break. Play rhythm games at band practice, work a diner shift, converse with characters and manage Gordy’s life. Dead Pets Unleashed is a feminist, slice-of-life, management-lite, minigame-heavy story; unleash your inner demon!Check out Dead Pets here!-Riv otter
- What We Learned About Beta 4? - 30 January 2026
Hey racers, Last month, we ran the 4th closed beta and had a ton of fun watching others check out the new track: Estate. We have gone through the numbers and gone through the feedback, and now I can share what we learned.EstateFirst off let's go with the new track in the Beta. It had players racing alongside a cliff wall before trespassing into a yard with a massive, decrepit mansion looming over the horizon. Racers head into the abandoned mansion and beat each other senseless in the tight corridors and hallways.This track was full of experimental features, some of which players loved, and some that players didn’t love so much. First off, our door puzzle was met with mixed feels. Our goal here was to add a new type of competitive-cooperative encounter to the game, but many players found themselves confused about how to move forward. Some folks felt the door had too much health, some fou…
- What's New in Beta 4! - 15 December 2025
Hey Racers,It’s time for you all to take the streets!Beta 4 will include many new changes that will shake up the competition from a new map, new UI, and more! How about I dive into them just a bit? Save those pipes for the racing. EstateMany of the maps battle over asphalt and concrete but Estate challenges that by fighting in the front maze of the manor. Starting at the edge of the property, you will race on top of the man-made cliffside before diving into the labyrinth of towering bushes. If you didn’t fall off into the dry trash ocean, you will drive upon a greenhouse where your first arena is. With bars blocking off the entrance you must be good at your foot combat in order to survive and not give away too many points. In the greenhouse you will find a mix of melee, guns, and throwables. The greenhouse gives nice sightlines for people who pick up guns however there is plenty of cove…
- Airframe Ultra Beta 3 - What We Learned? - 19 August 2025
Hey Racers,First off, I want to thank everyone who took the time to participate in the third beta. We had over 1,600 people sign up for the Beta! I hope you enjoyed beating up your friends on Ocean Drive. I’m sure you all loved watching me get beaten up on stream! I also want to extend a special thank you to everyone who made clips or memes for the beta– we’re talking about them constantly, let me tell you. But the team is taking things seriously too, reviewing the feedback, bug reports, and data gathered from the beta. MapsSomething that always surprises me with each beta is how quickly people go into “How Can I Break This Map” mode. I sat in on the call in the Airframe Ultra Discord right at the start of the beta with other players as they did everything they can to break Ocean Drive. Which, as someone who did some Quality Assurance for Akupara Game before becoming Community Manager,…
- Airframe Ultra Beta 3 - What’s Changed? - 23 July 2025
Hey racers, The 3rd beta for Airframe Ultra starting this Friday the 25th! Today, I’m going to give you a plane-in-chasm eye view on what you can expect in the new beta. If you haven’t already, sign up for the beta with this Google Form! I’d also recommend joining the Airframe Ultra Discord to keep up with the news for the Beta. Beta 3 OverviewAlright, now it’s time for the meat and potatoes. What is coming up in Beta 3 and what has changed from Beta 2? First, some quick and easy things to list. We took the time to look at some data and read through your feedback to tune some bikes and weapons. I’ll be curious on what you think and what will be this beta’s “meta”. There are also some new sound effects and music coming to Airframe Ultra! Those of you who played in the very first beta may remember that our first test had no music at all– that’s how early in the development cycle we wanted…
- Beta 3 Sign Ups - 21 July 2025
Hey Racers, It’s time… Airframe Ultra Beta 3 is available for sign upsJackrabbit… By day, she works on her Airframe and by night, she outsmarts the competition along Ocean Drive. Good luck trying to keep up; Ocean Drive is her home turf. Join the Airframe Ultra Discord and fill out the sign up sheet there! - riv otter
