Update []: The game is now up on the eShop priced at $49.99 / £44.99 for the standard version and $59.99 / £49.99 for the deluxe. Check out the story below for more details.
Original Story: We reported a little while back on Switch 2 timed-exclusive Gear.Club Unlimited 3, and how it was delayed from an initial release date in 2025 to sometime in 2026.
Now, Nacon and Eden Games have announced pre-orders for the delayed racer for Switch 2, with a release date of 19th February next year. Hooray and/or VROOOOOM!
According to Nacon, "this new instalment promises a more immersive experience than ever before, powered by the new console and enhanced with two completely new regions."
It's also the first Japan-focused Gear.Club, with players invited to recruit the best local drivers, assemble teams and immerse themselves in the country's unique automotive culture. The Story mode, "will be punctuated by trips back and forth between France and Japan, highlighting the shared passion that unites car enthusiasts on both continents."
This third entry also introduces a new Highway Mode, which promises "unprecedented thrills", like that one time this writer got on his bicycle and rode at speed with no trousers. Speaking of trousers, you'll need some, as Highway mode sees you challenged with perfecting furiously fast sections of urban raceway at speeds "over 300 km/h through the dense traffic of Japanese highways." (That's 186mph+, imperial folks.)
The game is available in two flavours, standard and deluxe, with the latter giving three days early access, a “Performance Cars Pack” DLC, and there's also a “Career Starter Pack” and “Customization Pack” thrown in for this version. Pre-orders of either version will come with the Honda and BMW in the pic below:
Here's a little more detail and some pics from the press kit for all you motorheads:
True to its DNA, Gear.Club Unlimited 3 retains the elements that made the series so successful:
Prestige: a selection of legendary vehicles under official licenses;
Customization: players can customize and upgrade their vehicles to their liking to impose their style on the roads;
Adrenaline: more than 50 tracks in France and Japan, with a local split-screen multiplayer mode for 2 players. Players can compete in races, sprints, or duels, but also cooperate in highway mode for an even more intense shared experience!
All that said, try as we might, we can't find pre-orders live beyond the Standard Edition pages retailers have had for some time. It's £44.99 on Amazon at the moment, but there's no sign of the fancy-pants Deluxe version at the time of writing, nor word on the price, and nothing on the eShop. We'll update this when we find out more.
Looking forward to Gear.Club Unlimited 3? Let us know!