Game: HORSE CLUB Ride West
Developer: Wild River Games
Publisher: Wild River Games
Licence: Schleich HORSE CLUB
Genre: Open-World Riding Adventure
Release Date: October 9, 2026
Platforms: Switch · PS5 · Xbox Series X|S · PC
Physical: Switch & PS5 only
Horses: Six rideable
🐎 HORSE CLUB Ride West has its first gameplay trailer and launches October 9, 2026. Wild River Games’ open-world riding adventure arrives on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC — with an overhauled riding system, a new art style, and Western riding as the series’ focus for the first time. Switch pre-orders are live now.
⚖️ Western Riding Is an Actual Discipline, and That’s the Point
It would be easy to read “Western adventure” as a change of scenery — cowboy hats, canyons, done. It’s a bigger deal than that for the audience this game serves.
Western riding is a distinct equestrian discipline, with its own techniques, tack and competitive events, and it’s genuinely different from the English-style riding these games have used until now. Different seat, different rein handling, different manoeuvres entirely.
Wild River are leaning into it mechanically rather than cosmetically. The riding system has been completely redesigned, and the trailer highlights new moves including sliding — used to pull fast, tight turns both in the open world and in competition.
For a young player who actually rides, or wants to, that distinction is not a detail. It’s the whole reason to be interested.
Ride west, and take the long way
Deserts, canyons, hot springs, abandoned mines and cactus oases — and somewhere in there, a campfire where you can stop and play the guitar.
HORSE CLUB Ride West arrives on October 9, 2026, and Wild River Games have released the first gameplay trailer. It’s an open-world riding adventure built on Schleich’s HORSE CLUB line, and it’s a considerably bigger swing than the previous Horse Club Adventures games.
The world is freely explorable, taking in expansive deserts, dramatic canyons, hot springs, abandoned mines and cactus oases. Alongside the main story there are side characters, optional quests, tournaments, action-driven missions and mini-games — archery and campfire guitar among them.
Six Horses, and They’re Not Interchangeable
🐴 Each One Has Stats You Can Actually Raise
There are six rideable horses, each with distinct personalities and abilities — and crucially, each can be individually improved across five attributes:
That last one is the interesting inclusion. Friendship sits alongside the physical stats as something you level, which frames the bond with your horse as a mechanical system rather than a story beat — and it’s the thing this franchise has always been about.
On top of that there are more than 100 combinable customisation options across riders and horses. For the audience this is aimed at, that number is doing more work than the open world is.
🏜️ Open World
Deserts, canyons, hot springs, abandoned mines and cactus oases, freely explorable.
🏆 Tournaments
Competitions and challenges alongside action-driven story missions.
🏹 Mini-Games
Archery, guitar around the campfire, and more scattered through the world.
🎨 100+ Options
Combinable customisation for both riders and horses.
A New Look, Closer to the Source
🖌️ Back to the Illustrations
The art style has changed, and the stated reasoning is specific: it’s inspired more closely by the original illustrated source material rather than the previous games’ look.
That’s a sensible move for a toy-line adaptation. Schleich’s HORSE CLUB has a well-established visual identity across packaging, books and figurines, and children who know the brand know that look. Matching the illustrations rather than inventing a separate game aesthetic means the thing on screen resembles the thing on the shelf.
Alongside it, improved animations and new controls are intended to make the horses feel more responsive and dynamic — the other half of what “completely overhauled riding system” needs to mean in practice.
Funded by the German Government
🇩🇪 A Line Worth Not Skipping Past
Tucked into the release: development of HORSE CLUB Ride West is funded by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Germany runs one of the more substantial public games funding programmes in the world, treating games as cultural works eligible for state support in the way film and literature are. It’s a policy position most countries don’t share.
What makes this particular instance notable is what’s being funded. This isn’t an arthouse project or a historical drama — it’s an open-world riding game based on a toy line, aimed squarely at children. That a national culture budget extends to a Schleich licence says something quite specific about how broadly Germany defines the category.
Whether that’s the right use of public money is an argument for somewhere else. But it’s the reason a mid-sized studio near Munich can build an open world for this audience at all, and it’s worth knowing it’s there.
Where to Get It, and What’s Missing
🎮 Four Platforms, Two Physical
HORSE CLUB Ride West launches October 9, 2026 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Physical editions are Switch and PS5 only. Xbox and PC are digital-only — worth knowing if you were planning to wrap this for someone.
⚠️ Only Switch pre-orders have been announced, via the Nintendo eShop and participating retailers. No pre-order details have been given for PlayStation, Xbox or PC. If you’re buying on another platform, you’re waiting — and if you want a physical PS5 copy specifically, it’s worth watching retailers rather than assuming it’ll be there on the ninth.
The trailer is labelled as the English PEGI version, so expect European ratings information to lead on this one.
🐎 Riding
🏜️ Open World
🤠 Western
👨👩👧 Family Friendly
🎨 Customisation
🧸 Toy Licence
Who’s Making It
🏢 Wild River Games — Ismaning, Germany
A developer and publisher based near Munich, making games for family, kids and core audiences. Their Schleich catalogue is substantial: bayala – The Game, ELDRADOR Creatures and its Shadowfall follow-up, Horse Club Adventures, Horse Club Adventures 2: Hazelwood Stories and Dinosaurs: Mission Dino Camp. Their stated design principle is streamlined mechanics and intuitive controls — which, for the age group they’re serving, is the correct priority.
🧸 Schleich
Founded by Friedrich Schleich in 1935, and one of Germany’s leading toy manufacturers. Its hand-painted figurines are sold in more than 60 countries and have a genuine following among adult collectors as well as children. HORSE CLUB is one of its major lines, which is why this adaptation carries more weight than a typical licensed tie-in.
HORSE CLUB Ride West launches October 9, 2026. Switch pre-orders are open now.
Hi there! I’m Marie, also known as CtrlQueen. I’m passionate about keeping up with the latest in gaming news and sharing my insights. RPGs steal my heart with their rich narratives and immersive worlds, but I also love unwinding with fun, casual games. Whether you’re here for deep dives into game mechanics or just to chat about your favorite casual game, you’ve found the right place! Let’s game and explore together.
