Dovetail Games, perhaps best known as the developer and publisher of the Train Sim World series of video games, announced a brand-new title at IGN Fan Fest 2025: Fall Edition– and it’s unlike anything they’ve released before.
Metro Rivals: New York is “an innovative and genre-defying subway simcade game” set to release in early 2026.
In the game, “players step into a near-future New York City where the subway system has been carved into 10 fiercely contested districts.” In addition to its single-player campaign, Metro Rivals: New York includes a PvP mode where up to four players can compete online or with friends. Drivers can “race to stop at designated platforms,” and are “scored on their ability to handle their train with precision and control under pressure.”
Metro Rivals: New York’s first trailer was revealed as part of IGN Fan Fest and, as you can see in the player at the top of the page, gives a brief glimpse into train racing mechanics.
According to Dovetail, the game’s narrative sees “players begin their journey with nothing but a hand-me-down train and a determination to rise. To succeed, they must take on a variety of missions, earn cash fares, upgrade their train’s performance, build a loyal following, and earn respect.”
While there will be in-game purchases, Dovetail says those are “entirely cosmetic” and that the game is not “pay-to-win.” Instead, players “can express themselves with extensive options to upgrade their train’s performance, apply unique skins and liveries in signature colours, and personalise their character’s appearance to stand out on the tracks.”
And if neither the single player campaign nor the PvP mode is your cup of tea, you also have the option to partake in a “more relaxed experience” where “players can set their own paths, hop into their train, and enjoy the sights of the city.”
Metro Rivals: New York marks Dovetail’s first use of Unreal Engine 5 in the development process. They also collaborated with the team at Reactional Music to utilize a procedural music engine, meaning that “music is fully native and cinematically integrated in the game, even when swapping tracks.’
Metro Rivals: New York is being developed for Steam, the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S and is available for wishlisting now.
