The Next Car Game blog has word from Bugbear that Next Car Game has been renamed from its uninspired working title, and is now known as Wreckfest. The news is accompanied by the release of update #6 for the early access racing game, which implements the first pass at multiplayer support. Here's an excerpt that covers each bit of news:

The name reveal is certainly not all, for Wreckfest has also evolved to include 18 player multiplayer! The players can now challenge their friends to share the most visceral demolition racing mayhem in existence! With four different game modes, Racing, Demolition Derby, and the new Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, Wreckfest’s conjunction of purity of driving and the innate beauty of twisted metal creates massive amounts of emergent glee when punishing your friends and foes alike.

We’re pushing the limits to get the number of simultaneous players to 24, but optimizing the network code will take a bit longer. Because the code is not yet optimized, remember that the speed of your ISP has a tremendous impact on how the races will run. Check the Recommended Upstream figure when you host a game, and you’ll be fine.