Trials Fusion will not include head-to-head online multiplayer when it releases on April 16. Instead, "a completely new type of online multiplayer mode" will be added in as a free update soon afterwards. IGN spoke with Trials Fusion creative director Antii Ilvessuo about this decision, as well as developer RedLynx's other big plans for the imminent new version of the physics-based racing/puzzle game.

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“ Incorporating a feature that we found wasn’t a great fit for players – just to say we did it, to hit a checkbox on a list – didn't seem right to us.

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“ You will be able to see how your friends progressed through a track while you are playing it.

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“ We had to make some tough decisions about which platforms to focus on.

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“ Yes, there is feature parity across all platforms.

"Incorporating a feature that we found wasn’t a great fit for players – just to say we did it, to hit a checkbox on a list – didn't seem right to us."Ilvessuo was reluctant to share more details about the new multiplayer, but did tell us, "We will be expanding the game even further with carefully polished features that truly fit Trials. To reveal just a bit, an example of this type of feature will be a completely new type of online multiplayer mode. This upcoming feature, as well as other new unannounced features, will be free for the players. Since Trials always has a few secrets, we’ll not reveal more, but let players start discovering them."So can we still race against the "ghosts" of our friends, asynchronously, on launch day?"However, one ghost mode that seemed to go unnoticed for the vast majority of Trials Evolution players was the live, head-to-head 'ghost racing' on a single player track," he continued. "That mode won’t be available at the game’s launch. It proved to have challenges, and based on the metric data from Trials Evolution, not many players used it. We decided to put our focus on features that really make Trials Fusion stand out, and re-create the best parts of multiplayer in a way that makes the most sense for Trials.""That being said, simultaneously developing a game for four platforms is a lot of work, and we had to make some tough decisions about which platforms to focus on."Can we expect feature parity across all four versions?Ilvessuo concluded by adding, "From the very beginning of the development process, we had great ambitions for Trials. The game’s launch in April is just the beginning! We have incredibly rich and robust post-launch content and updates planned that we thinks fans will get really excited for. The development team has given all of the features in Trials the time and attention they needed to ensure they’d be a perfect fit for Trials."

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews and Xbox Guru-in-Chief. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan , on IGN , catch him on Podcast Unlocked , and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.