Simulated racing or racing simulation, commonly known as simply sim racing, are the collective terms for racing game software 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.
A simulation cockpit, simpit or sim rig is an environment designed to replicate a vehicle cockpit. Although many pits commonly designed around an aircraft cockpit, the term is equally valid for train, spacecraft or car projects.
GTR – FIA GT Racing Game is a sports car racing simulator developed by SimBin Studios AB and published by 10tacle Publishing for the x86 PC. Simbin has also released an "add-on pack" called "Kings of Ovals" which contains a set of new oval-style tracks. A sequel, GTR 2 – FIA GT Racing Game, was released in 2006.
GT Legends is a sports car racing simulator for the PC developed by SimBin Studios and published by 10tacle Publishing. It is based on the 2005 FIA Historic Racing Championships for GTC and TC cars of the 1960s and 1970s. This is a modern-day championship for historic cars, and so the circuit designs in GT Legends are those of the modern era, contrasting with games such as Grand Prix Legends which are actually set in historic times.
Image Space Incorporated (ISI) is an American independent video game developer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, specializing in the fields of video game development, man-in-the-loop simulator architectures, computer image generation, and entertainment systems integration. ISI was originally founded by Kurt Kleinsorge who added partners Joseph Campana and Gjon Camaj. ISI began with the development of vehicle simulators used for military training. They have worked on many different types of software, but focused most of their development time over the years on racing games and simulators. ISI also developed the ISImotor game engine, which is used for creating many racing games like GT Legends, GTR 2 – FIA GT Racing Game, ARCA Sim Racing '08, Race 07, Simulador Turismo Carretera and others. ISI has not released games for any console; Shadowgate Rising was in development, but ultimately cancelled. Sports Car GT for the PlayStation was made by another company Point of View and all the original EA Formula 1 games for consoles up until 2002 were made by Visual Science.
F1 Racing Championship is a video game developed by Ubi Soft. Starring people and locations from the 1999 Formula One World Championship, it was released for several platforms during 2000 and 2001. At the time, it was facing steep competition by the ever-popular Grand Prix 3 and the rising F1-series by ISI. The sales were behind expectations. Reasons were a poor artificial intelligence and damage model and the bug-prone initial release. A patch to fix the reported issues was announced, but never released.
A number of video games have been made of Le Mans 24 Hours. The race, the Circuit de la Sarthe, and competing cars have been featured in racing games such as the Gran Turismo series.
NASCAR Racing is a series of car racing video games originally developed by Papyrus Design Group in the 1990s. The series started in 1994 and ended with the release of NASCAR Racing 2003 Season in 2003. Later NASCAR games were released by Electronic Arts who, through their EA Sports brand, took over the official NASCAR license. This article deals with the original series release, NASCAR Racing.
KW Studios Ltd. is a Swedish video game developer and publisher founded in 2003 that develops racing simulators for Windows PC. The company has its headquarters in Lidköping, Sweden. The company originally started as a modding team for the Image Space Incorporated game F1 2002, releasing a mod based on the 2002 season of the FIA GT championship, essentially the precursor to its first commercial game.
GTR 2 – FIA GT Racing Game is a sports car racing simulator developed by Blimey! Games and SimBin Studios and published by 10tacle Publishing in 2006 for the x86 PC. The game is a sequel to GTR. Not only the game simulates the official 2003 and 2004 FIA GT Championship racing series, but also open practice, race weekend, championships, time trials, endurance race events and driving school, with more than 140 high detailed cars from the GT and NGT classes as well as 34 different track-layouts. Since its release in September 2006, the game has received widespread acclaim. Extending the physics engine from GTR, it features realistic physics including steering command by sensitivity, dynamic lighting, damage modeling and 3 different game modes.
iRacing is a subscription-based online racing simulation video game developed and published by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations in 2008. All in-game sessions are hosted on the publisher's servers. The game simulates real world cars, tracks, and racing events, and enforces rules of conduct modeled on real auto racing events.
A sim racing wheel is a control device for use in racing games, racing simulators, and driving simulators. They are usually packaged with a large paddle styled as a steering wheel, along with a set of pedals for the accelerator, brake, and clutch, as well as transmission controls. An analog wheel and pedal set such as this allows the user to accurately manipulate steering angle and pedal control that is required to properly manage a simulated car, as opposed to digital control such as a keyboard. The relatively large range of motion further allows the user to more accurately apply the controls. Racing wheels have been developed for use with arcade games, game consoles, personal computers, and also for professional driving simulators for race drivers.
Live for Speed (LFS) is a racing simulator developed by a three-person team comprising Scawen Roberts, Eric Bailey, and Victor van Vlaardingen. The main focus is to provide a realistic racing experience for the online multiplayer game and to allow single player races against AI cars. Users can set personal bests which can then be uploaded to LFSWorld in hotlap mode, and take driving lessons in 'training' mode.
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.
Cruden B.V. is a Dutch motion-based racing simulator designing and manufacturing company based in Amsterdam. Founders of Cruden have been developing professional motion simulators since the 1990s. Their experience in designing simulators for aerospace industry led them to use this knowledge to branch out into the marine, automotive and motorsport industries. Cruden is also branded as Hexatech.
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.
RaceRoom Racing Experience is a free-to-play racing simulator for Microsoft Windows, developed by KW Studios and published by RaceRoom Entertainment AG. Their aim is to provide an authentic racing experience through detailed car and track models as well as realistic car behaviour and sounds. The game provides a selection of free-to-play race cars and tracks to drive in multiplayer and single player games modes. Sponsored competitions and other free-to-play events allow users to use premium game content at no cost.
rFpro, originally rFactor Pro, is a driving simulation software used by racing teams and car manufacturers for advanced driver-assistance systems, self-driving cars and vehicle dynamics. rFactor Pro was created in 2007 as a project of a F1 racing team, using Image Space Incorporated's rFactor as a codebase. It has since been used by more F1 racing teams, top road car OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and motorsport manufacturers. It was originally developed for driver-in-the-Loop simulations, but has since been used for autonomous vehicle training as well. It is not licensed to consumers.
F1 22 is a racing video game developed by Codemasters and published by EA Sports. It is the fifteenth entry in the F1 series by Codemasters. The game holds an official licence of the 2022 Formula One and Formula 2 championships. The game was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 1 July. It would also make its debut on EA's Origin platform as their main platform, which is also playable in the EA Desktop app, as well as the Epic Games Store. In previous entries, Steam was the only platform available for PC players. The game was delisted in March 2024 following the announcement of the forthcoming F1 24.
