Sim racing is the collective term for racing games that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings. To be competitive in sim racing, a driver must understand all aspects of car handling that make real-world racing so difficult, such as threshold braking, how to maintain control of a car as the tires lose traction, and how properly to enter and exit a turn without sacrificing speed. It is this level of difficulty that distinguishes sim racing from arcade racing-style driving games where real-world variables are taken out of the equation and the principal objective is to create a sense of speed as opposed to a sense of realism like the Need for Speed series.
netKar Pro is an online racing simulator that is developed with an emphasis on realism. It provides advanced features such as a complex tire model and a fully interactive cockpit such as those seen in flight simulators.
The Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is a sports car produced by Italian marque Alfa Romeo between 2007 and 2010. It was first presented as a concept car at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show. The name refers to the eight-cylinder engine (8C) and Alfa Romeo's racing pedigree. The company received over 1,400 orders for the 8C after the official announcement that the car would enter production. However, only 500 customers ended up with the 8C Competizione and another 329 with the 8C Spider, bringing the production total to 829 cars.
Ever since Pole Position in 1982, Formula One (F1) has always played a part of the racing genre in video games. Early Formula One games were typically arcade racing games, before Formula One Grand Prix (1991) popularized Formula One racing simulations on home computers.
rFactor 2 is a computer racing simulator developed by Image Space Incorporated and released for Windows in 2013. Like its predecessor rFactor, rFactor2 is designed to be modified and used by professional racing teams for driver training and race car development. Much of its source code is derived from rFactor Pro, which is also used by professional racers and most of the Formula One teams and NASCAR manufacturers.
Ferrari Virtual Academy (FVA) is a sim racing video game for Microsoft Windows developed by Kunos Simulazioni and released in September 2010. The simulation allows the player to drive a Ferrari against the clock at a race track. There are no other vehicles to race against in real time.
Assetto Corsa is a sim racing video game developed by the Italian video game developer Kunos Simulazioni. It is designed with an emphasis on a realistic racing experience with support for extensive customization and moddability. The game was first released through the Steam Early Access program on 8 November 2013, and officially left Early Access as final release version on 19 December 2014.
BeamNG.drive is a 2013 vehicle simulation video game developed and published by Bremen-based video game developer BeamNG GmbH for personal computers. The game features soft-body physics to simulate realistic handling and damage to vehicles. Initially released as a tech demo on 3 August 2013 along with paid access to an alpha, it was later made available on Steam Early Access for Microsoft Windows on 29 May 2015. BeamNG also develops a fork of the game designed for education as well as industrial and academic research entitled BeamNG.tech.
Kunos Simulazioni s.r.l. is an Italian software development studio that specializes in creating driving simulations. The company is headquartered at the ACI Vallelunga Circuit near Rome and was established in 2005 with the goal of developing software for varying needs from solutions for professional racing teams to consumer software.
Dirt Rally is a racing simulation video game developed and published by Codemasters for Windows. A Steam Early Access version of the game was released on 27 April 2015, and the full version was released on 7 December. PlayStation 4, Xbox One and physical PC DVD versions were released on 5 April 2016. The Linux and macOS versions, developed by Feral Interactive, were released in 2017. A sequel, Dirt Rally 2.0, was released in February 2019.
Nacon is a French video game publisher, holdings company and gaming peripherals manufacturer based in Lesquin. It designs and distributes gaming accessories, and publishes and distributes video games for various platforms. In 2020, Bigben Group was consolidated to form Nacon.
Assetto Corsa Competizione is a sim racing video game developed by Italian video game developer Kunos Simulazioni. The game focuses on GT3, GT4, GT2 and one make series cars and is an officially licensed simulation of the GT World Challenge Europe and the Total 24 Hours of Spa covering seasons from 2018 to 2023, and is set to serve as a platform for esports.
Circuit Superstars is a racing video game developed by Original Fire Games and published by Square Enix Collective. The early access version was launched for Windows via Steam on March 5, 2021, and the game fully released on Windows and Xbox One on October 12, 2021. The game released for PlayStation 4 on January 27, 2022, and was released on June 21, 2023 on Nintendo Switch. The game features tracks and vehicles from numerous eras of motorsport.
NASCAR Heat 5 is a racing video game simulating the 2020 NASCAR season. It was developed by 704Games and was published by Motorsport Games on July 10, 2020, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows via Steam. Chase Elliott is the cover athlete for the standard edition, and Tony Stewart is the cover athlete for the Gold edition.
Digital Bros S.p.A. is an Italian video game company that develops, publishes and distributes games. It publishes games under its 505 Games subsidiary brand since 2007 and established video game development school, Digital Bros Game Academy, in 2014. Digital Bros was founded in 1989 as Halifax and the name is still used for distribution.
In sports car racing, balance of performance (BoP) is a regulation and mechanism that maintains parity between competing vehicles by adjusting the limits and parameters of a vehicle such as horsepower, weight, engine management, and aerodynamics to prevent a single manufacturer from becoming dominant in a racing class or series.
D3T Ltd is a British video game developer based in Runcorn. The studio offers work-for-hire video game development services and, as of 2021, they employ over 100 people.
Automobilista 2 is a motorsport racing simulator game created by Reiza Studios, under the lead of Renato Simioni. The game was initially released as an Early Access title on March 31, 2020, via Steam, with the official V1.0 release taking place on June 30, 2020. Automobilista 2 features a wide variety of cars and tracks. Its main focus is on Brazilian content, which includes licensed Brazilian racing series such as Stock Car Brazil and Copa Truck. There is also an emphasis on Formula racing cars of many different eras, and includes licensed and generic vehicles. Other racing classes represented in Automobilista 2 include, but are not limited to: Retro touring cars, 1990s American open-wheel cars, GT3 and karts. Automobilista 2 supports VR, triple screen and full motion racing simulator setups.
KartKraft is a karting racing simulator game that emphasizes realistic physics. It was originally created by Australian independent developer Black Delta which in 2021 was acquired by Motorsport Games. After being in Early Access on the Steam store since November 2018, the game was officially released on January 26, 2022.
Le Mans Ultimate is an upcoming racing video game simulating the FIA World Endurance Championship. It is being developed by Studio 397 and published by Motorsport Games. The game was originally slated for release in December 2023, but the release date was pushed back and the game was released on Steam in early access on 20 February 2024.
