Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing, widely regarded as one of the worst video games ever commercially released, is getting a 2025 release on Steam — and the exhumation of this 2003 disaster does not appear to be a joke, some sort of meta-commentary, or a stealth psychological horror game disguising itself as Big Rigs.
Instead, publisher Margarite Entertainment appears to be of the opinion that the oft-mocked Big Rigs is a “classic trucking game” and that its release on Steam in the coming months will mark its “triumphant return.” A news release from Margarite Entertainment effectively touts the same inaccurate promises that Big Rigs’ box art made more than 20 years ago, which the final, barely playable game certainly did not live up to.
Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing was developed by Stellar Stone — which outsourced the game’s development to Ukraine — and originally released by GameMill Publishing. In its initial state, the game was an unmitigated disaster. The AI-controlled truck that you were supposed to race against didn’t move at all. The game’s physics and collision detection were virtually nonexistent, meaning you could drive your rig up the side of mountains and through buildings. Even the acceleration was completely busted; players could move in reverse at speeds of up to 2 million miles per hour.
The game is also infamous for its congratulatory message “YOU’RE WINNER !” when completing a course.
A patch released for Big Rigs addressed some of its glaring issues, including some of the broken English, but even then, many of the features promised on the game’s original box (and now in Margarite Entertainment’s announcement) were never part of the game. That includes “stay[ing] one step ahead of the law” and “hauling loads” — yes, two of the game’s four drivable trucks have trailers, but the contents of those haulers are not visible nor are players aware of their contents. You might consider them Schrödinger’s load.
It’s still unclear if publisher Margarite Entertainment truly knows what it has on its hands. Margarite Entertainment’s website says that the company’s mission is “acquiring and licensing classic games” and that it is “eager to present these exceptional games to an emerging audience.” Thus far, the only game the publisher has announced it has rights to is Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing. (Margarite appears to be based in China, going by the company’s domain registration and investment from Hong Kong-based ACG Plus Capital.)
Time will soon tell what the 2025 release of Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing will play like. But given the game’s infamous quality, don’t expect much more than a fresh batch of memes and comedic playthroughs.
