ICYMI: This week in racing games – 10 February 2023

Welcome to Rear View Mirror, your weekly racing game news roundup. As we shift into reverse, these were the biggest racing game news stories that hit the headlines this week.

Gran Turismo 8 begins development

Gran Turismo 7 hasn’t reached its first anniversary yet, but Gran Turismo 8 is already in development.

In an interview with Japanese media, Kazunori Yamauchi revealed “there is a theme” for the next Gran Turismo game but he “can’t talk” about it yet.

Don’t expect Gran Turismo 8 to arrive anytime soon, though. The next Gran Turismo game probably won’t be released for several years, likely towards the end of the PS5’s lifecycle. It could even be a PS6 game.

DRIFTCE announced for consoles

Fans of driving sideways rejoice. From the makers of DRIFT21 and Car Mechanic Simulator, DRIFTCE is a new drift racing game sliding onto PlayStation and Xbox consoles this spring.

With 12 of the most iconic drift cars in the world, extensive customisation options, and a fully laser-scanned recreation of Japan’s Mount Haruna, this is shaping up to be the ultimate drift racer.

First look at Mario Kart 8 Wave 4 DLC

Nintendo’s Direct show gave us a first look at Wave 4 of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass.

Wave 4 will include a brand-new track set in Yoshi’s Island along with the return of fan-favourite character Birdie from Mario Kart Double Dash!!!

This came soon after Mario Kart 8 Deluxe surpassed 50 million sales. No wonder Nintendo isn’t in a hurry to reveal Mario Kart 9.

In other racing game news…

Forza Horizon 5 is getting a drag racing update according to a datamine leak. Nothing is official yet, but audio files discovered in a datamine suggest a future series update will feature a new Horizon Story where you race iconic drag cars from multiple eras.

There will also be new drag strip locations with working lights and manual starts according to the leak.

With stiff competition from The Crew Motorfest, KT Racing will finally soon be ready to reveal new Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown details before March’s Nacon Connect event.

Ian Bell has been making bold claims about GTR Revival again, this time revealing a “complete game changing” concept that will revolutionise commentary in racing games.

iRacing also received a new patch bringing graphical improvements and rFactor 2’s GT3 cars have been updated with improved physics and BOP.

If you’re looking to upgrade to a direct drive wheel, the Moza R21 DD is back in stock at a reduced price.

For anti-gravity racing fans, Redout 2 received four new frozen tracks in the Winter Pack DLC.

From the makers of Mario Kart Live Home Circuit, Hot Wheels Rift Rally was revealed as a new mixed-reality game that turns your living room into a race track.

In case you missed it…

Ahead of this weekend’s ESL R1 tournament, we caught up with Competition Company to find out why Rennsport will revolutionise sim racing.

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