Project CARS 2

Project CARS 2 is a motorsport racing simulator video game developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published and distributed by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was released worldwide on 22 September 2017, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Development
Soon after the success of Project CARS after the May 2015 release, funding began to open for Project CARS 2 on 23 June 2015. World of Mass Development and Slightly Mad Studios opened donations through the "Project CARS 2 official forum". Forum members and visitors choosing to donate had the option to using membership through the forums. In exchange, donors could gain access to development builds and voicing thoughts, opinions, and suggestions critical to the progress of the game. On 8 February 2017, Project CARS 2 was officially announced as a game coming late 2017. Slightly Mad Studios soon revealed that the game was going to compose of 182 cars from 38 manufacturers and a variety of car and race car classes, new additions including the Honda Civic, Jaguar XJ220, Toyota GT-86 and Nissan R89C. The game also has a larger track roster, with 46 tracks (containing 121 layouts), the majority being laser scanned circuits, and new additions including Fuji Speedway, Knockhill, Long Beach and the Dirtfish rallycross track. A new time and weather system have also been included in-game which can allow multiple different changing weather conditions and changes within a given season (winter, spring, summer, autumn). A new game physics engine called LiveTrack 3.0 has also been included, bringing realistic track conditions throughout a race weekend.

Online mode has also been developed with a focus on E-sports, bringing an online ranking system, online championships, and better functionality in matchmaking.

Through the months leading up to a release, Slightly Mad Studios have worked closely with auto manufacturers, auto industry companies, and race car drivers to help them in making an accurate simulation. As a result, cars have specific performance characteristics and represents its real-life counterpart accurately. The tire physics have also been built from the ground up, with more advanced tire movements and actions.

In addition, Project CARS 2 supports virtual reality (VR), up to 12K resolution, and triple screen support.

In an interview with Red Bull, when asked whether the game will arrive for Nintendo Switch, creative director Andy Tudor replied that despite being a big fan of Nintendo's platforms, there are no plans to release the game for Nintendo Switch.

There will be new manufacturers in the game, including: Porsche (they used Ruf in the first game), Ferrari, Lamborghini, Jaguar, Honda, Acura and Nissan.

They also developed a partnership with IndyCar, which includes all the lineup of the 2016 season, the official logo and the Indy 500.

Reception
Project CARS 2 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.

"Project Cars 2 may do a great many things exceptionally well, but it's hard to look past the mountain of gaffes that quickly pile up on and off the track. Racing, after all, is about results, not potential." was Josh Harmon's conclusion on Electronic Gaming Monthly with a score of 6/10.

Matthew Kato from Game Informer gave the game a score of 7.75/10 saying that "With all its customization options, racing demands, and copious track configurations (140-plus at over 60 locations), Project Cars 2 has a lot to dive into. However, it's more than just a scattershot of content – it's a title that rewards players for exploring all of its nooks and crannies. It could still use a good coat of polish, but it has a charm and daring that is often missing in the sub-genre." Hobby Consolas also praised the breadth of content.

Richard Wakeling of GameSpot awarded it 7/10 stating that "When it all works as intended, Project Cars 2 is a brilliant simulation racer provided you're playing with a wheel. It's ambitious in scope and depth, and the sheer breadth of available motorsports almost guarantees there's something for everyone to sink their teeth into. It's a shame, then, that there's always this nagging feeling in the back of your mind that a bug or moment of AI madness will disrupt the whole thing and more often than not, it will. These issues may be ironed out in the coming weeks and months, but with potentially stiff competition on the very-near horizon, Slightly Mad Studios might not have enough time to capture the hearts and minds of video game racing fans before they move on to pastures new." Eurogamer also mentioned the bugs.

9.2/10 was Luke Reilly's score on IGN and said "With its refined new handling and piles of race options, Project CARS 2 is about as good as real racing gets right now." Edge agreed, saying that "no racer offers such a breadth of choice, or seems so willing to let the player set the rules of the road.".

PC Gamer's Phil Iwaniuk scored the game an 89/100 with the consensus "Serious racing for serious racers. Extraordinarily convincing at each of the disciplines on offer." Evo said it had "excellent graphics and thundering, all-encompassing sounds".

Metro summed it up with "It was always crazy for such a small team to create such an ambitious game, but despite a few potholes this succeeds better than it has any right to. It is certainly a better game than the original and while it can’t compete with the mega budgets of Forza and Gran Turismo, in terms of the amount of content, and a palpable love of motor racing, this is at least their equal." Driving.co.uk said it was "Very tricky to master, which will put off the arcade racer crowd, but impressive attention to detail, realistic handling, speedy, atmospheric menus and a mouth-watering array of cars and tracks continue to make Project Cars one of the best racing games available."

The game was nominated for "Best Racing Game" and "Best VR Experience" in IGN's Best of 2017 Awards.

Sales
Project CARS 2 reached number 2 in the UK sales charts, behind Destiny 2. The game reached number 3 in both Australia and New Zealand. In Japan, it was the 6th best-selling PlayStation 4 game, and 11th overall.