Thanks to Netflix’s Drive to Survive and last year’s infamous clash between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, Formula 1 attracts a larger audience than ever before. This is why it’s important that F1 Manager 2022 appeals to both casual players and hardcore F1 fans.
Making F1 Manager 2022 accessible for new players
F1 Manager 2022 lets you manage every facet of your team, from creating custom race strategies to developing new car parts and managing budgets.
As such, the amount of depth and options may seem overwhelming. Despite this, F1 Manager 2022 is accessible to anyone – even if you’ve never played a management game before.
Tutorials guide new players on their journey as a Team Principal, clearly explaining F1 Manager 2022’s extensive tools and options.
Frontier Developments appears to have achieved a perfect balance, making F1 Manager 2022 accessible for new players and deep enough for experienced players.
Newcomers can rely on updates in the email inbox, using recommendations to help them make the right decisions and guide the team to glory. Hardcore players, on the other hand, can delve deeper, developing new car parts that shave tenths of a second off lap times for a more involved experience.
While races can be viewed and managed in real-time, there are options to speed time up to 2x, 4x, or up to 16x, making the game more accessible.
While you still have full control of the team management and can access data, the race switches to a 3D overview of the track displaying the car’s positions when time is sped up.
Practice and qualifying sessions can also be simulated. In simulated sessions, staff will automatically set up the car without your input. As you gain experience and develop your skills as a Team Principal, setups can be changed manually.
Likewise, there are preset race strategies or you can create your own. Using the Strategy Editor allows you to plan stints for tyre compounds, pit windows, and pace targets based on track data and the weather forecast.
For console players, Frontier is confident that F1 Manager 2022 is intuitive to play on a gamepad, despite the game's complexity. “That’s something I think we’ve really become experts with over the last few years with games like Jurassic World Evolution and Planet Coaster on consoles,” said Fletcher.
“It’s easy to underestimate how difficult it is to make a complex game intuitive to play on a gamepad.”
Made by F1 fans for F1 fans
Frontier is synonymous with theme park strategy games, but F1 Manager 2022 is the studio’s first foray into motorsport management games. Entering the world of F1 was a natural step for Frontier, however, as the studio has experience making games faithful to licenses with passionate fans like Jurassic World Evolution.
It also helps that there are many F1 fans on the team. This is a passion project made by F1 fans for F1 fans. “There are many F1 fans at Frontier, so when it was announced we’d be working on an F1 management game we were naturally incredibly excited,” said Fletcher and Executive Producer Adam Woods.
With all the official F1 teams, drivers, and circuits, TV-style presentation, and extensive team management options, F1 Manager 2022 is shaping up to be the most authentic motorsport management game yet.
F1 Manager 2022 launches on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One this summer. Check out our F1 Manager 2022 preview for an in-depth look at the team management options.