Project Motor Racing is set to launch in 2025 – and we got to take a closer look already. Here’s what we learned about the upcoming sim by Straight4 Studios and GIANTS Software!
Image: Straight4 Studios / GIANTS
There has not really been much in terms of news about Project Motor Racing in recent months. Content aside, the Hadron physics engine was pretty much the only thing that Straight4 Studios and publisher GIANTS Software showed in addition to the Roots: Building Project Motor Racing video series on YouTube.
Sim racers were eagerly asking for gameplay or more info any time a new batch of screenshots was shown, as they wanted to know more what the team at Straight4, which includes numerous familiar faces from the days of the GTR series by SimBin, were cooking.
In early April, @Michel Wolk and I were invited to Switzerland to learn more about PMR and also give it a spin ourselves for the first time. The event held at the Racing Unleashed lounge at the Zurich airport saw plenty of familiar faces take to the virtual track and ask the Straight4 and GIANTS team about the sim.
Now, we can finally tell you what we learned. First things first: It will be a proper simulator. Read more about our first impressions from behind the wheel here!
The Racing Unleashed lounge at Zürich Airport played host to the PMR preview event.
Project Motor Racing Cars
To start with the most obvious element that had also been addressed previously already, the cars in Project Motor Racing. Thus far, old fan favorites from the GTR titles had been confirmed, and they are going to be a staple in the sim as Straight4 had announced to feature cars from the 2004 and 2005 FIA GT seasons.But that will not be PMR’s entire focus. At the event in Zürich, we had the opportunity to drive three distinctly different cars: a modern day GT3 (naturally) in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, a Lola T70 Mk3B GT from 1970, and the Audi R8 – the LMP900 car - not the GT version, mind you.
Additionally, we now know of a few other cars that will appear in the sim. A trailer shown at the event included the Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S and a Porsche 917K, and a leaflet we were handed prominently featured the Lamborghini SC63 LMDh car on the cover. More on this in a separate article!
It is safe to say that Project Motor Racing will focus on multiple classes both modern and classic, but as we were told, they will not be single-car classes. Instead, each class will have multiple different entries to bring variety to the grid. In total, PMR will feature more than 70 cars spread across ten classes.
Tracks
In addition to the three cars we could drive, we tackled two tracks at the event – both of them circuits that had already been announced or featured in previous screenshots, namely Mosport and Lime Rock Park. The aforementioned leaflet mentions “27 global track layouts” in the full release.While no further tracks were available or explicitly unveiled, there was one more to spot, and some might argue that it’s THE track. The cover of the leaflet not only featured the Lambo Hypercar, but it was also very clearly racing out of the famous Caracciola-Karussell at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. Gotta have the Green Hell these days, right?
That said, the tracks that were available for testing were nicely detailed both on and off the racing surface. I know it’s minor, but it is still nice to see a few leafs floating through the air in parts of a track that are surrounded by trees.
Image: Straight4 Studios / GIANTS
Factory Driver Program – Community Feedback Done Differently
Of course, the Straight4 team was open to hear our impressions and suggestions, and they will continue to do so while Project Motor Racing is developed further. In fact, the studio has created a ‘Factory Driver Program’ that aims to be a platform for players to share their findings and feedback with the developers.That means that PMR will not see a “standard” closed/open beta or an early access release. Instead, sim racers can apply for the Factory Driver Program to test the sim and give detailed feedback. This is gamified a bit in the sense that the platform gives players things to look out for, checklists and progress bars to show them how much of a car or track they tested already.
For this, there will be an application process starting in late May. “You might remember that we had WMD in the past. This is more focused, more gamified”, states Chief Development Officer Kevin Boland. WMD, short for World of Mass Development, was used in the creation of Project CARS, but to gain access, players had to contribute to the fundraising efforts of the game. This is not the case with the Factory Driver Program.
The FDP will also allow sim racers to switch between different builds of PMR to compare them. To give feedback, they then need to answer a question by choosing one of multiple answers that reminded us of Project CARS 2’s baked-in engineer a bit, but they can also give more detailed feedback.
Image: Straight4 Studios / GIANTS
"Don't want to be stuck in an echo chamber"
“We hope what it does is that it gives more value”, explained Boland. “It’s our way of saying ‘hey, we really want everyone’s opinion. We’re making something, but we don’t want to be stuck in an echo chamber.” Boland is also convinced that “in order for our sport – that’s what I like to call sim racing – to grow, it has to become accessible. The first time you get into a car, it can be the very first impression of the game, so the default setting is really important.”Principal Vehicle Programmer Ben Ponsford added: “We will be getting feedback from lots of people, and if they are asking for something, we can add that. We can put tests out, they can tell us if this is actually worthwhile. It’s really good to get a wider variety of opinions, as we’re a relatively small company. We got three handling guys, who are all great, but it’s still only three viewpoints.”
Note that the 720 Hz physics will not be available on all models of steering wheels, as some simply do not support such high frequencies.
Ben Ponsford (l.) gave interesting insight into Project Motor Racing's physics and FFB.
Project Motor Racing Release
While the Factory Driver Program is set to get underway fairly soon, Project Motor Racing itself does not have a set release date yet – fall of 2025 is the plan, though. The sim will be available on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, which means good controller support is also on Straight4’s and GIANTS’ agenda, as Ponsford told us.Unfortunately, we could not get any information about whether or not it will feature crossplay out of Straight4 or GIANTS, but we will keep trying, of course! We do know that PMR will feature a singleplayer career mode, online racing modes and a “packed 4-class race experience”, according to the leaflet.
Project Motor Racing Price
Preorders for PMR are now open via the official website, which includes a bonus GTE Decade Pack, suggesting another category to feature in the sim. Originally called GT2, the class was referred to as GTE from 2011 until its demise at the end of 2023. Notable entries included the Ford GT GTE, the Porsche 911 RSR-19 and the Ferrari 488 GTE in its later years, with early examples of cars including the Ferrari 458 Italia GT2, Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, or the BMW M3 GT2.Image: Straight4 Studios / GIANTS
Project Motor Racing's preorder price is $89.99. This gets players the PC version of the game as a digital download, plus the Year 1 Season Pass which includes four packs and one expansion. Without the Season Pass but with the GTE DLC, the game costs $59.99.
Meanwhile, the Steam page for the game is also available already, giving players to option to wishlist PMR.
What are your thoughts on the Project Motor Racing reveal? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion our PMR forum!
