Badlands Crew News

Hi Crewmates!

Sharing the latest Badlands news and a development update for you from Runner Duck towers.
Firstly, we’re taking part in the upcoming Tiny Teams event on Steam! This is a massive opportunity for a small team like us, to be featured alongside some of the best indie devs out there. We're thrilled that all the hard work that we’re putting into Badlands Crew has been recognised by the Yogscast. Make sure you check out the Yogscast’s streams, you might catch some Badlands Crew gameplay among some other fantastic games made by some great Tiny Teams!

Badlands Crew is our most ambitious project ever. At this point, there’s thousands of different ways to customise both your crew and your wagon. We’re going to go out on a limb and say that Badlands Crew will be our most rewarding game to date – we’ve been working hard to make sure that you will have a deeper and more involved experience of progression throughout your playthrough, more than any other Crew game.

At the beginning of Badlands Crew, your gunners will start out with your trusty Junk Lobber (it gets the job done), but by the end of Badlands Crew, you’ll have engaged in battles employing flamethrowers, buzz saw railguns, toxic gas launchers and more.
You’ll also see your wagon evolve over time, starting off as a rudimentary single-trailer rig before you unlock larger trailers and the option to attach up to three trailers to your wagon. Over time, you’ll build a customisable behemoth that will leave the Warlords of the Badlands quaking in their boots.
Badlands Crew also has a wide variety of missions for you to complete. Whether you're racing against the elusive nomad, 'Gekko’, clearing areas of marauding enemy war bands, rescuing captive survivors, stomping out juvenile sandworms (and running from bigger adults!) or capturing outposts and strongholds – The Badlands will keep you on your toes.
That’s all before we get into our all new stat and perk system, which will open up endless possibilities to fine tune your crew builds.

We can’t wait for you to get your hands on Badlands Crew. As a small team of four, delivering new features, systems, tech and content at this scale means that we need to take the necessary time to deliver you the best game we can make, and so we will now be releasing Badlands Crew in 2025.

Thank you for all of the support that you have given us over the years, it means the world to us.
We’ll have more updates to share with you soon!
Sincerely,

Dave, Greg, Joe, and Jon
The Runner Duck Team.

We love sim games, you love sim games so why not celebrate the very best with our friends and partners Stray Fawn Studio, Future Friends and Fireshine Games!

From building rigs to assembling the best team, the deep strategic thinking will make Badlands Crew the greatest and deepest Crew game yet.

Join us in our Discord to pick up the conversation

Ahoy, Crewmates!

We’re proud to announce that Badlands Crew is officially involved in this year’s Pirates vs. Ninjas Steam Fest! We all know that we Crewmates have a natural flair for setting off on daring adventures, an appetite for exploration, gold and plunder, unmatched fashion sense, and can always be counted on to have a sword or dual firearms in their holster!

Whether sailing the seven seas or driving through the orange sand dunes in the Badlands, this is a great opportunity to check out other games with the same spirit of adventure, in this year’s Pirates vs. Ninjas Steam Fest!

[h3]Also very excitingly, we’ve just dropped our brand-new, exclusive 'Crew & A' developer interview video, featuring answers to community questions. Watch now below![/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Check out the full interview HERE[/h3]


Please join us on our social channels and Wishlist Badlands Crew now!
Discord Twitter

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2078230/Badlands_Crew/

Straight from the Studio, Jon Wingrove from Runner Duck took some time out from working on the new Badlands Crew to answer YOUR questions!

Watch now as he talks more about the new vehicles, enemies, environments and gameplay features and all the exciting things we can expect in the latest and greatest instalment in the multi-million selling Crew Games Series. Welcome to the Badlands!


[h3]Watch the new interview video here now!
[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Read the full interview below:
[/h3]


Interview with Jon Wingrove, Co-Founder and Technical Director at Runner Duck, creators of the Crew games series


Question 1: Is Badlands Crew set in the same universe and timeline as Bomber Crew and Space Crew?
Well, Bomber Crew is set before either of the other two games. Space Crew showed a future where humanity had united together against the Phasmids. In Badlands Crew, things are very different to Space Crew - it is definitely a future where things have gone badly wrong for humanity. There aren’t that many people left, and they aren’t united at all, split into various factions - but perhaps there’s a glimmer of hope.


Question 2: How is the new game significantly different or innovative from the previous Crew games? Will there be a different level of difficulty from the past games?
This game is very different to our past two. It’s a real challenge for us, as we’re still a tiny 4-person team! The level of customization on the vehicle is far, far greater than our previous games. The same for the crew - who are no longer fixed to roles but can be levelled up in whichever way you want. Plus, there’s a real campaign map, where choosing the order in which you tackle missions can make a greater difference. Bringing it into a physical, ground-based combat space has really changed the nature of the gameplay, too - it’s much more visceral. Everything feels more joined up. Difficulty-wise, I enjoy our games most when they’re at their most challenging, but I know other people will be more interested in different aspects of the game.


Question 3: Is there a reason you chose the Badlands setting versus something like a ‘Submarine Crew’ or a world-war-style ‘Tank Crew’ title?
There are a few reasons. I think we wanted to do something with a lot more customisation possibilities, and really let our players go all out on making their vehicle and their crew their own - and the scrappy battle wagon trailer in Badlands Crew seemed like a really good fit for doing that. There are another couple of things, design-wise, which we often talk about - for example, the ‘separation of fates’ of your crew, and aiming for active on-board management of your crew. With a long, extendable, customisable vehicle - there’s loads of cool stuff we can do with the gameplay in these areas. Also, it’s just a cool setting. We’ve gone way overboard with some of the crew upgrades and gear, as I’m sure you’ll see in time.


Question 4: Will it be relatively easy for new players to get started in the game?
Yes! There’ll be a detailed in-game guide, available at all times by pressing F1. There will be tutorials in the first few missions. The difficulty curve will allow players to learn the game at their own pace, and there will be guidance throughout the first sections of the campaign. We’ll introduce game mechanics over the first few missions.


Question 5: Will there be boss fights or aces to battle like in Bomber Crew?
Of course! In Badlands Crew, to progress the campaign and gain territory, you’ll need to capture strongholds, occupied by Faction Warlords. Each Warlord will effectively become a boss, with an arsenal of weapons and distinct tactics to figure out and overcome.


Question 6: Can you tell us more about the giant worm-like creatures? Are they to prevent players going out of bounds, or just a hazard meant to discourage certain routes?
The sandworms… there’s still a bit of working out to do here, but they’ll most likely to get you if you’re stationary in your battle wagon. They aren’t present everywhere, and there are some areas with increased activity. It’s best to keep moving as much as you can!


Plus, there are even more updates to come soon, featuring answers to more of your questions, so be sure to follow Badlands Crew’s developments and stay tuned!


Please join us on our social channels and Wishlist Badlands Crew now!
Discord Twitter

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2078230/Badlands_Crew/

CREW MEMBERS!

We’re so excited to bring you the next creative competition! Here’s your chance to get a decal designed by YOU officially added into Bomber Crew, for all players to enjoy!

DESIGN your best Badlands Crew-themed bomber decal – 3 winners will have their designs added into Bomber Crew as official livery decoration options, available for all players to dazzle up their planes with!

Bring out your inner artist and delight us with your creative ideas! We absolutely can’t wait to see what kind of hot and dangerous Badlands-themed pixel art you come up with – as we get into the mood of our brand-new, upcoming title in the Crew series, Badlands Crew!

To enter the competition, please upload your art entries HERE: https://bit.ly/3SvAODu

Requirements:
1) Your design must be Badlands Crew-themed!

2) Please upload 2 exports of your pixel art decal image (PNG files):
- 64 x 64 pixels
- 128 x 64 pixels

3) The images must have transparent backgrounds. However, if this is not possible, please do still submit your art anyway!

4) Please provide an official name for your decal as well!

We can’t wait to see your creations, Crew members!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2078230/Badlands_Crew/