How come there are so few racing games coming out lately? Feels like it’s just codemasters doing their thing, some struggling indie games and a truckload of shovelware. I’m not saying it’s dead but wasn’t racing games one of the primary genres?
Another thing that bugs me with the few games that come out is the lack of progression and immersion. NFS Unbound impressed me slightly with actually starting you out with a low spec car and having slow (by modern standards) progression. However halfway through when you have fast and “cool” cars you really felt the games mediocrity.
Dirt rally 1 and 2 has economy systems, but after a single championship you can basically buy whatever car you want. The rallies are immersive but everything between is just boring menues.
Why do you think the state of racing games is so poor? The industry being shit? Audiences not playing them anymore?
I don’t think the state of racing games is poor, it’s just that they aren’t as popular as they once were. And that’s ok, I don’t think we need a bajilion racing games coming out every year if they’re gonna be shit. But to answer your question, I think right now, there aren’t a lot of new games coming out that are new IPs, they’re mostly a continuation of established franchises, and are mostly simulcade or full-on simulation racing games. I’ve been having tons of fun with Automobilista 2, for example.
But if you want to go a bit more in-depth:
On the arcade side, yeah, I suppose there aren’t a lot of recent releases (maybe The Art of Rally? I think there was an Outrun-style game too?). But you still have Wreckfest, GRIP, and Redout 2. Oh, and Trackmania.
In the simulcade side of things (think Forza and Gran Turismo), there’s Forza Horizon, Forza Motorsport, Gran Turismo 7, WRC 24 (could also be put in the simulation racing, to be honest), and the F1 games, which are yearly releases as someone already mentioned.
As for simulation racing games, there’s Le Mans Ultimate, from the rFactor devs, and a new Assetto Corsa coming out. Automobilista 2 is getting updates pretty consistently, and iRacing is still going strong and getting new content. Oh, and BeamNG, which apparently turned into a full-fledged racing game?
You still have Forza, Forza Horizon, Gran Turismo, Wreckfest, F1, WRC, Need for Speed, Assetto Corsa, iRacing, MotoGP, Monster Energy Supercross, Hot Wheels Unleashed, NASCAR, and Lego 2k Drive just to name a few that have current or recent releases and are great and fill a wide variety of needs for racing.
Even Project Cars, The Crew, and Dirt had recent solid entries in the last decade that are still good today, and some obscure Saturday night local track style racing games like World of Outlaws, SRX, and various Tony Stewart dirt racing games have been released in the last 5-10 years.
There’s also remakes like Burnout happening.
There’s tons of racing games.
I lost interest when they became nothing but a shell for micro / macro transactions / “DLC”. The base game is already very expensive, but no, here’s some more overpriced cars and shit that you can’t afford either while you chase the dream of owning a full game with a complete car park.
I’d play NFSU in modern graphics! But apparently linear games are not allowed any more and it always has to be open world and come with seasons and DLCs and all that.
The entirety of Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty made less money than the first paid mount skin in World of Warcraft. That’s why companies don’t make linear games - because people will buy the microtransaction that required 1/1 000 000 effort of the game for more money than the game made.
I am slowly buying and playing through the old NFS games. I just bought Carbon and I’m going to go pick up MW before it comes in. I love the Underground 1&2 but Most Wanted was special for me. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.
It feels like we used to be spoiled for choice and now there’s only a few select titles out. A lot of racing franchises got ruined by micro-transaction garbage. Project Cars decided to go in an entirely different direction with their latest installment and basically ruined the game. Most games no longer support split screen so if you want to race locally with friends you basically only have Mario Kart.
There’s still games though. Forza, Gran Truismo, F1 24, Asseto Corsa, Need For Speed… But even so it feels like something is missing. There’s not a lot to fill in the Wipeout niche, or the Burnout niche. I miss random things like Midtown Madness and Twisted Metal. I really want a good racing combat experience again.
I think a lot of studios aren’t willing to take chances and a good racer isn’t something you can make easily since people want good graphics and excellent racing physics.
