Developed by Kano/Apps and OneMoreLevel in 2013 and officially released on the 4th of December 2013, it is the last official edition of the Free Rider series but the first with 30 fps when ghosting and unparalleled graphics compared to the other editions. Once again, old FR2 and CR tracks were moved over to FRHD as Community Classic Tracks before the official game release on the 19th of November 2013. 10105 tracks were uploaded, going from track ID 1001 to 11106. Upon the initial release of the game and forums, Community members from CR and BHR didn't know what to expect, especially since FRHD had no editor. Some people continued to rant about the downfall of CR or complained about what Kano did to ruin the game. Others remained optimistic whilst most veterans of the game decided to stick with BHR or draw on CR editor clones for the time being.
The first
Free Rider HD Trailer was released on the 9th of January 2014, grabbing the attention of people who were unaware of the Free Rider series. Shortly after this exposure, the track editor was released on the 5th of February as a Beta Version. People were still not able to upload tracks and veterans still insisted on using the BHR editor instead. After a long wait, the 8th of May 2014 marked the beginning of the FRHD era when players were finally able to upload tracks.
The Great Volcano by
Char (a Community Developer) was the first track released, new tracks beginning from track ID 50001 onwards. Veterans finally decided to stick with FRHD as they realised it was the go-to website to publicise their tracks. Only a few dedicated ghosters played BHR religiously till its closure on the 13th of July 2020.
The Community was expecting big things from FRHD, and that is exactly what they got. Free Rider HD is the next generation of Free Rider available to play on any device including a Mobile Version of the game that can be linked to a person's normal FRHD account. FRHD outdoes the previous versions in almost every way possible. With Campaigns, thousands of top Free Rider tracks online, multiplayer racing, achievements, powerful track editor, leaderboards and more, FRHD is able to keep you entertained for a very long time! The last official update for FRHD was the release of the 11th Campaign
Super Free Rider Bros containing one track,
Stig's renowned
Super Mario Bros. FRHD track.
Although the Community has been through tough times, it is by far the most dedicated in the series, with many still playing since the FR2 days and a plethora of new players creating amazing tracks, producing mind-blowing ghosts, releasing tools for the Community, and offering a wide range of threads topics to keep the Community engaged and connected as one for the years to come. FRHD is currently run by the Community after Kano Apps started to focus on other games and when
Char announced he was leaving Kano on the 30th of March 2021.
A group of dedicated Staff Members, Administrators and Forum Moderators kept this game running smoothly and driving into a better future. Staff Members like
Eric check in every once in a while to ensure the game and community don't hit any roadblocks. FRHD has been through 9 eras and is currently in "The Next Generation" Era after the release of
track editor 1.1 by
Ness and
Pie42, bringing new light as a new generation of Free Rider players begins to come through.
- Early Days: Dec 5th, 2013 - Feb 5th 2014
- Bronze Era: Feb 5th, 2014 - Dec 23rd, 2014
- Silver Era: Dec 23rd, 2014 - Dec 11th, 2015
- Golden Era: Dec 11th, 2015 - May 18th, 2017
- Dark Era/The Cold Winter: May 18th, 2017 - Sep 23rd, 2018
- New Era: Sep 23rd, 2018 - Jun 29th 2019
- The Revival: Jun 29th, 2019 - Mar 30th, 2021
- Reformative Years: Mar 30th, 2021 - Jul 7th, 2024
- The Next Generation: Jul 7th, 2024 - present
