ICYMI: This week in racing games – 20 January 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.

Max Verstappen rants about rFactor 2

The 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual is one of the biggest esports racing tournaments of the year. But this year’s race was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Max Verstappen 24  Hours of Le Mans Virtual
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Server issues severely disrupted the race, causing drivers to disconnect and costing Max Verstappen a potential race win.

Venting to viewers on his livestream, the Dutch driver called the event as a “clown show” and urged organisers to scrap rFactor 2 as a race platform because “it’s not going to work.”

Don’t mince your words, Max.

Snowstorms come to The Crew 2 in Season 7 Episode 2

The Crew 2 got a huge update this week with the launch of Motorflix Season 7 Episode 2.

In the new episode, players battle against an extreme snowstorm in an epic race across the US. As always, the new episode also brings new cars, a new Motorpass, and Live Summits to conquer.  

The Crew 2 Season 7 Episode 2
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New Gran Turismo 7 PSVR 2 details revealed

VR fans rejoiced when Sony confirmed Gran Turismo 7 will support PSVR 2 at launch next month. However, we didn’t know the extent of the support – until now.

Gran Turismo 7 PSVR 2
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Unlike GT Sport, GT7 will be fully playable in VR, with Polyphony Digital cars, tracks, and races in the game will support PSVR 2. This is great news, especially with no other racing games confirmed for PSVR 2 yet.

In other racing game news…

F1 22 Podium Pass Season 5 kicked off this week with new rewards celebrating Lunar New Year. Even though F1 23 is around the corner, there was also a surprise F1 22 update, with patch 1.17 fixing some single-player issues and improving hardware support.

F1 22 Podium Pass Season 5
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Ubisoft could be cooking up a new Forza Horizon rival. The Crew 3 is rumoured to be rebranded as Motorfest, with a new report claiming it will be announced in a matter of months.

NASCAR fans might have to wait a while to play the next official NASCAR game, as Motorsport Games is reportedly delaying NASCAR 23 until 2024 in favour of the officially licensed IndyCar game.

Along with Rennsport, GTR Revival is set to challenge the established sim racing titans of iRacing, Assetto Corsa Competizione, and rFactor 2. Ian Bell has been making some bold claims about the game’s modding support, saying it will be the “most moddable auto platform ever.”

Players can also now go free roaming in Dakar Desert Rally and a new WRC Generations update fixed several console-specific issues. 

Rocket League Neon Nights
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Rocket League is also teaming up with rapper Cochise for a new Neon Nights event, while The Sim Racer film is putting the spotlight on virtual racing.

We also got an update on CarX Street for Android, but there's still no updates on the Steam version.

Finally, Codemasters has teased the fourth and final GRID Legends DLC expansion is coming next week. Players are in for a treat, as it will feature the 1,800-hp Bugatti Bolide track weapon.

In case you missed it…

With no updates from EA about post-launch plans yet, we ponder what the future could hold for Need for Speed Unbound this year.

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