Slightly Mad Studios alumni are spearheading a new project, aptly titled Project Motor Racing. This next-gen circuit-based sim racer is slated for a 2025 release and is being developed by the fledgling Straight4 Studios. Fans of the Project CARS series from the now-defunct Slightly Mad Studios will recognise the CEO of Straight4, Ian Bell, former head of the aforementioned team.
Now, Ian and his new team are forging a new path with Project Motor Racing which was recently confirmed to be published by Giants Software. That company is notable in the sim industry as the troupe behind the immensely popular Farming Simulator series. In a rather interesting twist, it’s been announced that the upcoming Project Motor Racing will be powered by the same tech supporting Farming Simulator, the GIANTS Engine.
From cornfields to circuit bends
Just a few weeks ago, Giants showed off the latest rendition of its engine with the reveal of Farming Simulator 25 (launching later this year.) Now, we get to see it being used in a completely different environment with newly released WIP screenshots of Project Motor Racing.
Straight4 and Giants are described as having “now entered a long-term technical partnership.” The two parties have been at work together carving away at the upcoming game since 2023, and are now “deep into the development phase of tuning the engine for sim racing-specific duty.”
This is an important point that’s been brought up, considering that the GIANTS Engine hasn’t been a fan-favorite for some in the sim community, despite the high sales of the Farming Simulator series. The main criticism that’s been brought against it by its naysayers is the lack of complex physics. The level demonstrated thus far continues to pale in comparison to more sophisticated titles such as the revered off-road driving sims from Saber Interactive.
With that said, it’s going to be very interesting to see just how Straight4 and Giants finetune the engine to suit the elaborate nature reminiscent of Straight4’s past projects at Slightly Mad.
Giants Software’s CSO and Head of Publishing, Boris Stefan, offered some positive words in the announcement:
“Competing in the specialized and technically challenging sim racing arena with Project Motor Racing is a testament to the versatility of the GIANTS Engine. We’re sure both Farming Simulator fans and sim racers will come out as winners from this partnership.”
The previously-mentioned Ian Bell also shared some words in the announcement along the technical front, and it does provide more positive insight as to how both teams are handling the development:
“Developing a new generation of sim racing games requires that we solve some hard questions. Foremost is how to align our state-of-the-art physics engine alongside the graphic fidelity that our fans demand from us. In the GIANTS Engine, we have found the solution: a game engine that allows us to build a beautiful simulator while ensuring framerates do not suffer as a result.”
Forging new paths
Unsurprisingly, Straight4 is keenly aware of the high attention to detail that its audience is expecting from such a project.
Before its acquisition, Slightly Mad Studios suffered a critical blow with the maligned release of Project CARS 3 in 2020. It didn’t keep in step with the quality expected from the team and is considered a victim of corporate meddling.
Slightly Mad was scooped up by Codemasters in 2019 who in turn was also acquired by EA in February 2021. Both Codemasters and Slightly Mad Studios are essentially gone as of current date, with a lot of staff from both sides being cut after the EA acquisition.
From the ashes of Slightly Mad’s overall departure, Straight4 seems poised to deliver what could end up being a return-to-form from the team. Project Motor Racing is slated to hit the road in 2025 across PC and consoles.
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