Speed Crew :
From concept to release project

In Speed Crew, you step into the role of a pit crew member, joining forces with up to 3 other players. Your mission is to inspect incoming cars, swiftly tackle repairs, and maneuver through intricate levels and environmental hazards. The game features:

• Cooperative party game for 1-4 players, with local and online multiplayer options.
• Engaging storyline featuring the antihero Dominion Torrento and 4 racing championships spanning 4 decades.
• Dynamic pit lane filled with tools, hazards, and other cars to keep the intense action.
• Stylized 3D graphics with a retro touch and custom-made soundtrack for each decade.
• 48 levels with a variety of tools, car issues, and animated and voiced story cinematics.
• Extensive character and vehicle customization options.

Working closely with our sister company Wild Fields, N-iX Game & VR Studio has contributed to almost every aspect of the game, including:

• Game Design: narrative design, game mechanics, level design, etc.
• Art production and art direction: Since the game’s events take place in the 70s-00s, we came up with a retro visual identity for the game, with relevant character models, cars, environment, and retro comics style cinematics.
• UI/UX design: Our designers developed an intuitive UI that smartly utilizes diegetic elements and blends well with the gameplay and setting of the game. 
• Unity development: Speed Crew is built on Unity, a game engine that we have considerable expertise in and is perfect for rapid prototyping and game logic development.
• QA testing: Our engineers combed the game for any flaws to ensure an uninterrupted gaming experience. We also organized many closed playtests to evaluate players’ engagement in gameplay and all possible gaps for game mechanic exploitation. 
• Porting: The game was initially released on Nintendo Switch, and the ports for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox are already in the works.

Each console has its own game approval process designed to ensure compliance with platform requirements. Lotcheck is a thorough examination conducted by the Nintendo team, where they test your game for compliance with the platform’s unique development guidelines. This includes integrating native features like support for native controllers, the file system, and social activities. They also check if the correct button styling is present and if the terminology is used correctly.

As an official partner of Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony, our Studio possesses the development kits and necessary expertise to tailor Speed Crew to meet the specific requirements of each console. We were able to swiftly navigate through the Lotcheck procedure, establish the game’s store page, and initiate our marketing efforts.

In March 2023, a part of our team attended the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, where we presented Speed Crew to a wide audience. At the conference, the game received the GDC Best in Play award for its game trailer. 

In May, we participated in Digital Dragons in Krakow, Poland, showcasing Speed Crew to dozens of people.

The next milestone for us was the release of the demo version. A month prior to the release, the demo was downloaded over 12 thousand times worldwide.

Speed Crew made its debut on June 8, 2023, exclusively on Nintendo Switch. The game was also ported to PC, Xbox, and PlayStation in early 2024.

Currently, we are meticulously studying players’ feedback, promptly implementing patches when necessary, and preparing to enrich the game with exciting content updates.

You can also read about the origin of the pit stop co-op game idea, how the initial concept has changed over time, and why playtests were crucial during the development of Speed Crew: Behind-the-scenes Speed Crew development story.