Automobilista 2 will see more frequent updates in 2025 again, but they will not just come with new content - new features and more polish are also on their way.
Following the release of v1.6, Automobilista 2 has seen renewed interest in the sim racing community. The amount of work connected to this milestone meant that title by Brazilian developer Reiza Studios did not see many more updates throughout 2024, which the studio is looking to change for 2025, including new content being released more frequently.
But there will be more than cars and tracks, as Reiza Founder and Lead Developer Renato Simioni revealed. While the content is essential to the overall concept of AMS2, Simioni also underscored that "it needs to be working well" - so Reiza's focus is not just on content, but also on polishing things and adding new features and mechanics.
While 2024 was all about improving the fundamentals of the sim as a whole to create one big, comprehensive update that elevated AMS2 to the next level - which is always a subjective thing, of course - 2025 is going to be more about smaller, but more frequent steps forward. "We're looking to do more in terms of development of the game itself", Simioni told OverTake. "It's more about polishing. Fixing bugs, making the experience a little bit more well-rounded."
However, those who do decide to use these options or participate in sessions that have them enabled will have to take a more considerate approach to even practice and qualifying. A 30-minute quali session might seem plenty long, but if you end up thrashing your car in a high-speed off on your first flying lap, the required repair time might mean your qualifying is over already.
Longer repair times for different amounts of damage are already a thing in races in AMS2, but not in other sessions thus far. Additionally, limited tire sets will also come to the sim eventually. Simioni: "Taking care of your tires is going to have an extra component this way, because most series do not have an infinite number of tire sets a car can use."
The Brazilian Stock Car Pro series often runs multiple heats in quick succession - writing off your car in one race could mean the second one is compromised as well.
While realistic, these elements might not be what some sim racers are looking for, hence them being optional. Simioni explains the thoughts behind their inclusion, however: "These real-life hassles are critical to simulate motorsport accurately, because you don't have the advantage that we have in sim racing where you can just hit ESC and go back on track with a new set of tires. That removes a bit of the care and planning that you need to have."
It might also contribute to add more of a race weekend atmosphere, something that modern sims are not exactly known for. The F1 series manages to do this, but anyone who played Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix series will likely have fond memories of those full race weekends.
Multiplayer driver swaps are a different beast, though, but not one that Reiza would not want to tackle. "We have a development wishlist of our own, and the community can be sure that a lot of the most commonly requested features, fixes and improvements are on our list as well", assured Simioni. "But that doesn't mean you can get to it right away, you need to work to deliver it, figure out what the bug is in order to fix it - and sometimes it takes years. But that doesn't mean that we're not attentive to it - on the contrary. I think we have most of the bug in reach now."
When the community could expect online driver swaps remains open, however, as Simioni pointed out that he is "not sure if human driver swaps are viable in the short term. But that doesn't mean they're a write off. There have been things that we said are unlikely to happen, and they did happen. And some that we planned for two years ago that haven't happened yet - that's the nature of development."
It may have been slow progress, as Simioni admitted, which means that "not everyone got where it was going to begin with. Some people became frustrated along the way, but as we go further on this journey, I think more people get it and appreciate it."
At the same time, Simioni also reflected on the way communication was handled: "We always said it was going to be a long-term project that was to expand and improve gradually, incrementally. But maybe we were not emphatic enough about that, so people weren't sure where we were going with it."
Part of this was that plans changed, "and likewise, we were still learning about the game engine", remembered Simioni. "We didn't know how long it would take us to go from doing an OK job to a good job to a great job with it, so we couldn't be too specific." With 1.6 finally out however, Simioni is certain that "the game is at a solid enough point that we can focus on the details a little more."
What are your thoughts on Reiza's plans for Automobilista 2? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our AMS2 forum!
Following the release of v1.6, Automobilista 2 has seen renewed interest in the sim racing community. The amount of work connected to this milestone meant that title by Brazilian developer Reiza Studios did not see many more updates throughout 2024, which the studio is looking to change for 2025, including new content being released more frequently.
But there will be more than cars and tracks, as Reiza Founder and Lead Developer Renato Simioni revealed. While the content is essential to the overall concept of AMS2, Simioni also underscored that "it needs to be working well" - so Reiza's focus is not just on content, but also on polishing things and adding new features and mechanics.
While 2024 was all about improving the fundamentals of the sim as a whole to create one big, comprehensive update that elevated AMS2 to the next level - which is always a subjective thing, of course - 2025 is going to be more about smaller, but more frequent steps forward. "We're looking to do more in terms of development of the game itself", Simioni told OverTake. "It's more about polishing. Fixing bugs, making the experience a little bit more well-rounded."
Repair & Tow Times To Be Implemented
Part of this approach to make Automobilista 2 a bit more well-rounded are a few features that might change how players approach races and race weekends if they choose to enable them. Simioni: "There are cool components that we have been working on for a while and that we also had in Automobilista 1, which is repair time, towing time, delays in the pits", revealed Simioni. "All of this is going to be optional, nobody has to use that."However, those who do decide to use these options or participate in sessions that have them enabled will have to take a more considerate approach to even practice and qualifying. A 30-minute quali session might seem plenty long, but if you end up thrashing your car in a high-speed off on your first flying lap, the required repair time might mean your qualifying is over already.
Longer repair times for different amounts of damage are already a thing in races in AMS2, but not in other sessions thus far. Additionally, limited tire sets will also come to the sim eventually. Simioni: "Taking care of your tires is going to have an extra component this way, because most series do not have an infinite number of tire sets a car can use."
The Brazilian Stock Car Pro series often runs multiple heats in quick succession - writing off your car in one race could mean the second one is compromised as well.
While realistic, these elements might not be what some sim racers are looking for, hence them being optional. Simioni explains the thoughts behind their inclusion, however: "These real-life hassles are critical to simulate motorsport accurately, because you don't have the advantage that we have in sim racing where you can just hit ESC and go back on track with a new set of tires. That removes a bit of the care and planning that you need to have."
It might also contribute to add more of a race weekend atmosphere, something that modern sims are not exactly known for. The F1 series manages to do this, but anyone who played Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix series will likely have fond memories of those full race weekends.
Automobilista 2 Driver Swaps & AI Improvements
Meanwhile, further sorting out the AI is also on Reiza's agenda, as it is another critical element of the overall concept and the eventual career mode, as we highlighted in our recent article regarding AMS2's update frequency. This includes their strategy and also AI driver swaps, "and I think we're going to have some quite quick progress there in the next few weeks and months", said Simioni.Multiplayer driver swaps are a different beast, though, but not one that Reiza would not want to tackle. "We have a development wishlist of our own, and the community can be sure that a lot of the most commonly requested features, fixes and improvements are on our list as well", assured Simioni. "But that doesn't mean you can get to it right away, you need to work to deliver it, figure out what the bug is in order to fix it - and sometimes it takes years. But that doesn't mean that we're not attentive to it - on the contrary. I think we have most of the bug in reach now."
When the community could expect online driver swaps remains open, however, as Simioni pointed out that he is "not sure if human driver swaps are viable in the short term. But that doesn't mean they're a write off. There have been things that we said are unlikely to happen, and they did happen. And some that we planned for two years ago that haven't happened yet - that's the nature of development."
Fifth Consecutive Year Of Growth
Still, Simioni is quite happy with how Automobilista 2 is progressing. The initial release of the sim happened in early 2020, so the sim is turning five years old soon in April of 2025. "Every year, we have had more revenue and a bigger number of copies sold", said Simioni. "2024 was our fifth year of consecutive growth." According to the Reiza Founder, AMS2 even topped 2023's numbers by 50%. "I don' see many games going to their fifth year of shelf life and make that sort of progress."It may have been slow progress, as Simioni admitted, which means that "not everyone got where it was going to begin with. Some people became frustrated along the way, but as we go further on this journey, I think more people get it and appreciate it."
At the same time, Simioni also reflected on the way communication was handled: "We always said it was going to be a long-term project that was to expand and improve gradually, incrementally. But maybe we were not emphatic enough about that, so people weren't sure where we were going with it."
Part of this was that plans changed, "and likewise, we were still learning about the game engine", remembered Simioni. "We didn't know how long it would take us to go from doing an OK job to a good job to a great job with it, so we couldn't be too specific." With 1.6 finally out however, Simioni is certain that "the game is at a solid enough point that we can focus on the details a little more."
What are your thoughts on Reiza's plans for Automobilista 2? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our AMS2 forum!
