MXGP 26 Beginner Guide: Your First Hour on the Bike
MXGP 26 is a new start for the series: a new studio (Artefacts Studio), a new engine and physics built around ruts that grow lap after lap. If you played MXGP 2020 or 2024, expect it to ride differently. This is the order we would take it in.
1. Pick an assist profile you will outgrow
The game asks for an assist profile before anything else, from Amateur to Expert. Amateur gives a lot of help in the air while you learn. Pick it if you are new to motocross games. If you come from MX Bikes or the older MXGP games, start one step lower than you think and remove assists as you go: almost every positive Steam review says the game clicks once the assists are off.
2. Practise in The Compound, not in a race
The Compound is a free-roam area with jumps and ramps. There is no trick system, so use it for what it is good at: learning how the bike lands, how far you can lean it, and how it reacts to throttle on take-off. Ten minutes here saves a lot of restarts later.
3. Race a Grand Prix on Amateur AI
A single Grand Prix is the quickest way into racing. Expect your first race to unlock several achievements at once: lapping a slow rider (Ruthless), leading into the first turn (What a Start!), the fastest lap (What a Lap!) and the win (One Small Step).
Watch two things in that first race:
- The ruts. By the later laps the track looks and rides differently. A line that was fine early can kick you out when the rut gets deep.
- Corner speed. Many launch reviewers say the bike turns slowly. Brake earlier and let the bike settle into a rut rather than forcing it around.
4. Raise the AI to Pro
There are four AI levels: Amateur, Pro, Hard and Expert. Launch players with any MX game experience found Pro beatable from the start, and one MX Bikes player qualified more than 10 seconds faster than the top AI on day one. The AI takes several lines through corners, so passing gets more interesting as you climb.
5. Switch assists off one at a time
Start with the air assists. That unlocks free whips and scrubs, the part of the game reviewers praise most. Then turn on manual stand and sit, which adds a stance indicator to the HUD and lets your rider’s weight change how the bike behaves. The full list is in the settings guide.
Things launch players wish they had known
- Remapping is in. The launch PC build had none; the first hotfix added full remapping. See controls.
- There is no full career mode. Championship is the career-lite option. See game modes.
- Speed Regulation Assist was switched off in the first hotfix because it could stop the bike accelerating.
- No DLSS or FSR. If frames dip, lower the internal resolution scale first (PC performance).
- Online was rough on day one. The first hotfix improves online physics and joining; try it again after the update.
Cheers, noted for the next pass over this page.