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?
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.