BeamNG.drive v0.40: Race Your Friends to the Finish Line

Driving across rough terrain or finding out how much punishment a vehicle can take has long been part of the fun in BeamNG.drive. With the v0.40 update released on October 19, 2026, you can invite friends to join you on the same device through split-screen. The game also adds weight when more people climb aboard, introduces the Cherrier Percheron truck, and brings several visual improvements. The update coincides with the game’s PS5 debut, while subsequent hotfixes continue to address reported issues.

Share the Screen, Race Together, and Try Something New

How Does Split-Screen Work?

Split-screen lets several people play on the same machine. The display is divided into separate sections, each showing one player’s view. You and your friends can therefore control different vehicles in the same session while keeping an eye on your own stretch of road. This is local multiplayer, rather than players connecting over the internet from separate machines.

On PS5, split-screen supports up to four players. On PC, the developer lists a limit of 64, although actual performance depends on your hardware. That is the supported ceiling, not a promise that every PC can run smoothly with that many players.

Once in the game, your group can choose Freeroam to drive around, explore, or try scenarios of your own making. If you would rather compete with a clear objective, there are seven modes:

• Race: compete on set courses to see who finishes first.
• Drag Race: go head-to-head over a quarter-mile straight.
• Pursuit: one side gives chase while the other tries to escape.
• Derby: collide with rivals and try to keep your vehicle the last one moving.
• Drift: pull off drifts to score points within the time limit.
• Rock Crawling: guide your vehicle over rocky trails and challenging terrain.
• Soccer: form teams and use your vehicles to push the ball into the opposing goal.

That variety brings to mind Forza Horizon 6’s gameplay options, but the two games have different priorities. Forza focuses on races and festival activities, while BeamNG.drive emphasizes how vehicles handle, deform, and sustain damage. A collision in BeamNG.drive therefore leaves you with the additional challenge of dealing with the car afterward. Those unexpected situations can make a session with friends more unpredictable and entertaining.

Sharing a Vehicle Changes How It Drives

Not everyone needs a separate vehicle all the time. In split-screen, you can leave your own car and climb into a friend’s, letting one person drive while the others ride along.

The new feature is that characters are physically present in the cabin and respond to the physics system. Each occupant adds 89 kg to the vehicle. In other words, more passengers mean more weight, which affects how it handles. It is a small detail that fits BeamNG.drive’s spirit of experimentation. Players can drive a stretch of road alone, then try it again with passengers to observe the difference. Sharing a vehicle becomes both a way to travel together and a meaningful part of the simulation.

Percheron: What Makes the New Truck Worth Exploring?

The Cherrier Percheron is a European-style truck with its cab positioned above the engine. It comes in configurations for different jobs, including a tractor unit, box truck, concrete mixer, and tanker. Players can also tilt the cab, open storage compartments, and interact with various parts of the vehicle. One notable feature is its hydrodynamic retarder. Think of it as a system that helps hold the truck’s speed in check, particularly on long descents where you want to reduce the load on the main brakes.

However, the system is connected to the engine’s cooling circuit. Excessive use can overheat the engine, so drivers still need to consider when and how to use it. Details like this make the Percheron interesting not just as another vehicle to try, but as a truck whose operation you can learn.

Clearer Visuals and a More Stable Experience

BeamNG.drive v0.40 adds SMAA T2x alongside NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR 3/4, and Intel XeSS upscaling options. These technologies give players more ways to balance image quality and performance, depending on their hardware and settings. Reflections, shadows, and rendering performance have also been improved. On PS5, however, mods and VR are not supported at launch.

Following the major update, the developer has continued releasing hotfixes:

• v0.40.1 — October 20: fixes a freeze in the split-screen menu when using a custom vehicle configuration, alongside several Career Mode, physics, and interface issues.
• v0.40.2 — October 22: addresses interface and memory issues and increases the number of rotating autosaves from two to four.
• v0.40.3 — October 22: fixes an issue that could prevent Career Mode from saving further progress, addresses a memory leak in the Vue interface subsystems, and clarifies supersampling and upscaling information in Photo Mode.

What stands out about the v0.40 update is how it makes BeamNG.drive’s simulation more of a shared experience. You can race friends, ride in the same vehicle, or work out how to get through a difficult stretch of road together. For players who enjoy asking questions and using a vehicle to find the answers, split-screen offers a simple but appealing change: now someone else can join the experiment.

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