Race formats in NGL Biathlon 2027

NGL Biathlon 2027 has five race formats, the same ones as the World Cup: sprint, individual, pursuit, mass start and relay. The individual also comes in a short version, the mass start and the relay have a length you can pick, and there are three kinds of relay. Here is each race in turn: how many laps and shootings it has, how the start works and what a single miss costs

Sprint

The shortest individual race: three laps and two shootings, prone first and then standing. It is an interval start, so athletes leave one at a time. Every miss sends you round a penalty loop, which is why the range decides almost everything. The default field is 42 athletes

The sprint result sets the start order of the pursuit

Individual

Five laps and four shootings in the order prone, standing, prone, standing. The start is an interval start, as in the sprint. There is no penalty loop here: a miss adds penalty time instead. With the Realistic time setting on it is one minute, as in the real individual race; with it off you choose the penalty in the game settings

The short individual works the same way, with the same five laps and four shootings, but a miss costs less: 45 seconds with realistic time

Pursuit

A chase race: athletes leave the start with the gap they brought from the previous race. After a sprint the gap is taken as it is, after an individual it is halved. Whoever crosses the line first wins

Five laps and four shootings: two prone, then two standing. A miss costs a penalty loop. The best finishers of the previous race make the pursuit, 21 athletes by default

Mass start

Everyone leaves together, and the race is shoulder to shoulder from the first metres. You pick the length in the settings. The full version has five laps and four shootings, two prone and two standing. The short one has three laps and two shootings, prone and standing. A miss costs a penalty loop. The field is 21 athletes

Relays

All three relays have four legs and a mass start, with up to 21 teams on the line. Each athlete has three spare rounds at every shooting: after a miss you load them one at a time. You only run a penalty loop for targets still standing after the eighth shot. Spare rounds can be turned off in the settings

• Relay. Four athletes of the same gender. In the long version every leg has three laps and two shootings, prone and standing, 12 laps in total. In the short version each leg has two laps and one shooting, prone and standing in turn
• Mixed relay. Two women and two men, with the same laps and shootings as the regular relay
• Single mixed. A woman and a man take turns, two legs each. Nine laps: two on each of the first three legs, three on the last. Each leg has two shootings, prone and standing, and the exchange comes straight after standing, with no loop between the range and the handover. Only the final leg keeps a loop after standing, and it ends at the finish

There are no relays online, only individual races

Tracks and weather

The game has 15 tracks. Time of day and weather are not tied to the track: before the race you choose day, evening or night and clear weather, snowfall or fog