Project Motor Racing

GregRedd · 25 September 2024 09:20

Believe it or not, there’s another new sim racing game currently in development. And the studio behind its development - Straight4 Studios - is headed by Ian Bell who helped create some of sim racing’s most mythical games—starting with GTR and the Project CARS franchise and with the seminal GT Legends thrown in for good measure.

The (imo) awkwardly named Project Motor Racing will run on the engine that drives the many, many, many tractors and combine harvesters of the Farming Simulator franchise.

Straight4 Studios have partnered with GIANTS Software (the folk behind the Farming Simulator franchise) who will be providing both the engine and the publishing team for Project Motor Racing. While the two have been working on finalising their partnership since early 2023, an official announcement and the first in-engine screenshots were only made last month.

GIANTS Software and Straight4 Studios have been collaborating on integrating the GIANTS engine into Project Motor Racing since 2023. Both studios are already deep into the development phase of tuning the engine for sim racing-specific duty.

The GIANTS Engine was developed from the ground up and saw the light of day in 2008 in the first Farming Simulator. Since then, it has been continuously developed and used in all common platforms, so that today it easily meets the latest technical requirements for PC and console gaming.

Project Motor Racing is currently being developed for PC and consoles, and is slated to be released “in 2025”.

DarthMol · 25 September 2024 11:07

Interesting combination of game engine and genre, but I could actually see it working. Farming Sim has a fair amount of physics simulated so the engine will be conducive for building in reaching physics.

Will be interesting to see what they do

GregRedd · 29 April 2025 17:15

A few months later and we have news… a PMR release is coming sometime this “Fall” (so, September/October-ish I guess). The news comes today together with some preview material that some sim racing channels and content creators releasing information about the upcoming game.

Project Motor Racing ignites all the passion, beauty, and intensity of professional motorsport. Race across eras in 70+ iconic cars across 10 definitive racing classes in intense Single Player Career and Online Racing Modes.

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Feel every second with a new, benchmark-setting physics engine built on the mod-friendly GIANTS Engine 10 that delivers unmatched handling realism and high-fidelity FFB.

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Experience “living” cockpits with visible G-forces, dirt, heat-haze, and then feel the precision of “True2Track” on 27 scanned track layouts, all with Dynamic Weather Conditions, Adaptive Racing & Drying Line, and a full 24-hour day/night cycle.

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This is motor racing.

Also available from today are direct pre-order sales for PC via the games’ site. The title is also due to release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles at the same time as the PC release. At €90 for the PMR - Year 1 Bundle and €60 for the base game, I can’t see too many locals taking a gamble on the pre-ordering an untested title at those prices.

If you are keen though, who am I to judge? Here you go:
Buy Now | Project Motor Racing

Here’s OverTake_gg’s thoughts:

Personally, I can do without Johnny Herbert, but that’s a me thing I guess
Sim racer legends, check out the Factory Driver Program info at 14:34 - more news on that towards the end of May.

The lads from TraxionGG were at the media event too:

Great summary of the genealogy of PMR at the start of this video.

Published by GIANTS Software and developed by Straight4 Studios, Project Motor Racing ignites all the passion, beauty and intensity of professional motorsport. The racing simulator will hit the track in fall 2025 with 70+ vehicles from 10 racing classes and 27 track layouts.

From sim racers to first-time racers, Project Motor Racing boasts game modes for everyone: from Single Player Career Mode to in-depth Online Racing, from fun leaderboards to packed Full Race Weekends.

From today’s radical LMDh hypercars to iconic legends from motorsport’s rich legacy, each car is meticulously recreated and licensed from the world’s top car manufacturers like Lamborghini, Aston Martin, and Audi.

Each class has been curated to ensure definitive grids of motor racing heroes from today and yesterday, from LMP to turn-of-the-century GTs, from today’s GT3s to 1970s sportscars. With action-packed 4-class racing across 27 scanned, global tracks, Project Motor Racing is a motorsport-first simulation.

“True2Track” will allow racers to experience the authenticity of every track with dynamic weather conditions, adaptive racing & drying line, and a 24-hour day/night cycle.

GregRedd · 24 June 2025 17:30

Career Mode details and a targetted release date window. That, plus a big info dump of other news and game details.

Project Motor Racing ignites all the passion, beauty, and intensity of professional motorsport. Race across eras in 70+ iconic cars across 10 definitive racing classes in intense Single Player Career and Online Racing Modes.

Your single-player campaign mode in Project Motor Racing will force you, like never before, to think and react like a professional driver. One misjudged moment can end your career in an instant.
Negotiate budgets, sponsorship, buy your cars, and get ready to feel what it’s really like to carry the weight of an entire team on your shoulders. This is the high-stakes pressure of real motorsport.

With a new, benchmark-setting physics engine built on the mod-friendly GIANTS Engine 10 that delivers unmatched handling realism and high-fidelity FFB, “living” cockpits with visible G-forces, dirt, heat-haze, and 27 scanned track layouts, all with dynamic weather, adaptive race & drying line, and full 24-hour day/night cycle, November 25 is when you get to experience the cauldron that is pure motor racing.

Really like the approach to making the career mode semi realistic, forcing players to think about the costs of the sport, and the implications of a silly dive bomb move that trashes the car and the budget.
I’m still not loving the price points and (naively probably) holding out hope that there’ll be some regional pricing to be had once the game launches. That said, I may just have found the game I’m going to spend this December holiday playing. If they hit the release date of course…

GregRedd · 24 June 2025 17:33

Now, get ready to test your skill at Kyalami, scanned, and waiting for you in Project Motor Racing.

Kyalami is the third confirmed circuit that will be in the game at launch.

GregRedd · 24 June 2025 17:46

Oh, and one more bit of news via the Traxion site - mods are coming to all platforms!

“Project Motor Racing taps into the same powerhouse modding ecosystem as Farming Simulator,” says Boris Stefan, CSO & Head of Publishing at GIANTS Software.

“Racing modders will be able to tweak, tune, and transform their experience however they like.”

That hints at more than just car and track creation, but also elements such as tyre wear, fuel usage and maybe even on the moon?

GregRedd · 21 August 2025 20:14

Now with a release date of 25 November, PMR has a new action packed, and musically symbolic, trailer out this gamescom, and with it, a few more bits of news of what to expect come launch.

Race through 10+ classes of era-defining machines that have made 50 years’ worth of motorsport headlines in intense Career and Online Racing Modes.

From the 1970 Porsche 917K through the blockbuster days of Group C and GT1 to the last of the big-engine beasts of the early 2000s to today’s LMDh prototypes, experience all the passion, beauty, and intensity of professional motorsport.

Power your way to glory on 18 scanned, global locations, from the Nürburgring to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps to Mount Panorama, Bathurst.

Each of the 28 layouts features “True2Track” technology that delivers uncompromising realism, from dynamic weather systems, adaptive racing lines with authentic drying/drainage behaviour, to synchronized 24-hour day–night cycles that mirror real-world racing conditions.

Fuelled by a benchmark-setting physics engine on the mod-friendly GIANTS Engine 10, Project Motor Racing enables mods on PC and console, delivers unmatched handling realism with high-fidelity FFB, and introduces “living” cockpits featuring visible G-forces, dirt build-up, and heat haze.

Get ready to face the cauldron of pure motor racing on November 25, 2025.

Some more of the cars that have been recently confirmed for the game:

2005 Aston Martin DBR9

2022 Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II

2004 Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT

Lister Storm GT

2022 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2

Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S

Lola T70 Mk3B GT

Audi R8 LMP900

Marcos Mantara LM600

Some really interesting racecars being collected here.

GregRedd · 25 September 2025 10:35

Multiplayer Reveal Trailer

No subscriptions. No paywalls. Just racing.

Get ready to race the world on Nov 25. No sub Ranked Racing with Scheduled Start Times, Monthly Championships, Drop-In Flexibility, and Divisions. 2 Leaderboard Modes: Chase real-world lap times in Factory Driver Challenges, and long-distance Endurance Hall Events to mimic legendary real-world races. No fee custom lobbies. Social Races. Scheduled Racing. And best of all—Cross-Play Online for big grids and bigger grins.

No fees, no fuss, just fun. See you on the grid!

► Pre-Order Project Motor Racing now: Buy Now | Project Motor Racing
► Learn more on our website: Official Website | Project Motor Racing

Two Leaderboard Modes

Factory Driver Challenges
Think of these as bite-sized slices of our Factory Driver Program. You’ll tackle curated time-trial events that pair legendary cars with iconic tracks. Match (or beat) real-world pole times, and you’ll earn leaderboard glory while experiencing the same process real engineers use when balancing a car against its real-life counterpart.

Endurance Hall Events
Want long-form racing on your own schedule? Endurance Hall events are 200–300km showcases that mimic legendary real-world races. Success isn’t just about raw pace—you’ll need to master pit strategy, traffic management, and consistency over distance. Your total race time earns you a spot on the leaderboard and maybe a place on a competitive online team.

Custom Lobbies: No Fees, No Fuss

Host your own races without renting servers. Your sim, your rules. Cars, tracks, formats—everything is built in. Just like the old days, but with modern flexibility.

Online Racing Career

Scheduled Racing
The online sim world has shifted—scheduled start times, weekly championships, and proper matchmaking now define the standard. Project Motor Racing delivers all of this as part of the base game.

Social Races
New to organised sim racing? Social races are short, 15-minute casual events designed as your stepping stone. You’ll go through registration, qualifying, and a race format—without rankings or points pressure. Veterans can enjoy this too, thanks to light-hearted playlists like a 24/7 Nordschleife rotation or special DLC trial combos.

Ranked Racing

The crown jewel of Project Motor Racing. But before you jump in, there’s a catch:

License Test
Every driver must pass a License Test at Lime Rock Park before competing in Ranked Online. Think of it as your racing passport—finish within a set time, prove you can complete eight clean laps, and you’re in. Fail? Try again as many times as you need. Pass cleanly, and your performance sets your initial skill rating.

Ranked Online: How It Works

Scheduled Start Times – Races run every hour or two. Register, pick your car and livery, and hit the grid.
Championship Format – Each championship lasts four weeks, with tracks rotating weekly. Only your best two results per track count.
Drop-In Flexibility – Race the full season or just the cars/tracks you enjoy.
Divisions – Drivers are split by rating, so battles happen across the grid—not just at the sharp end.

Driver Ratings Done Right

Forget Elo inflation. Project Motor Racing uses a 0–100 driver rating system that feels instantly familiar, like player stats in traditional sports games.

License Test sets your baseline – Experienced sim racers don’t start at zero.
Class-Specific Ratings – GT4 skills don’t carry over to Group C prototypes. Each car class tracks its own rating, so you’ll always face equally skilled opponents.

Cross-Platform Championships

Big grids make racing better. That’s why championships unite players across platforms. Since every Ranked driver passes the same License Test and rating system, there’s no artificial divide between console and PC racers.

eSports for Everyone

Project Motor Racing isn’t about million-dollar contracts or a handful of “alien” drivers. It’s about building a grassroots racing culture where everyone can compete cleanly, improve, and carve their own path.

Race-win milestones unlock elite events for the best drivers.
Community first – respect, clean racing, and progression are core.
Career focus – whether you’re into offline, online, or both, PMR is designed to be the sim where you build your racing career.

Like Kevin Costner once said: “Build it, and they will come.” We’ve built it. The rest is up to you.

GregRedd · 25 September 2025 10:48

More confirmed cars:

2023 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)

1998 Panoz Esperante GTR-1

Porsche 911 GT1 98

Mazda 787B

GregRedd · 25 September 2025 11:18

Also, realsied now that I never posted the Steam store page info. Thankfully, PMR is avaialble on Steam with Regional Pricing!! I hope you didn’t drop a pile of Euros on a pre-order through the PMR site…

Base game at R499, with a Year 1 Bundle at R745.

DarthMol · 25 September 2025 13:40

This is looking really promising!

And the fact that our regional pricing works out to half the equivalent $ amount makes a strong case for me to offer my support.

aldyr · 23 October 2025 06:13

Ian bell is the same guy who took the good will from crowdfunding and delivering Project Cars 1 and 2, and gave the shiny piece of shit that is Project Cars 3, then handed over Slightly Mad Studios to Codemasters which is now owned by EA. EA is doing it’s level best to ruin every IP it owns through acquisition. When you didn’t create it, do you really care?

Is every C-level a cunt? I don’t know. But sure is evidence to propose a theory.

DarthMol · 15 November 2025 07:47

Looks like we get favourable pricing no more.

It’s still under the dollar equivalent but not by as much. So this will be a wait and see and if it’s good, pick up later when it’s heavily discounted.

GregRedd · 15 November 2025 09:08

Well that’s disappointing in the extreme.

some regions now benefit from lower prices, while others will see slight increases to maintain parity

In what world is an overnight 80% increase “slight”. I bought it at the original regional price because I had card farmed credit in my Steam wallet, but I am pretty disheartened by this move from Giant so soon ahead of the launch.

I know Giant are the publisher and all and get to set pricing, but you’d think the PMR folks would have had some influence over things just 10 days before their much hyped sim launches. I feel sorry for the hardworking developers. The review bombing of their game is going to be savage.

DarthMol · 15 November 2025 10:32

Thing is, you need to buy the game to review it, unless people can buy, review bomb and refund? Not sure if Steam has a policy to protect against that.

Glad you got the game before the price increase, we’ll wait to hear from you what it’s like.

LazyDemoni · 26 November 2025 15:20

Seems like the reviews have been poor - unrelated to pricing issues.

GregRedd · 11 December 2025 12:14

Two weeks in, and the fallout of the very poor launch of PMR is coming down. At the expense of the very people who should be getting all of the support - developers who have poured their hearts into the game are losing their jobs.

The game still sits at under 35% - Mostly Negative on Steam. Launch sales have been so poor Straight 4 are downsizing the PMR team. Another new patch 1.5.0.2 is said to be coming out very soon. And there’s assurances being given that the roadmap and DLC plans are still on track. Personally, I find that hard to believe, especially with a reduction of staff on the cards.

And I still maintain that Giant Software need to take a measure of responsibility for the failure for setting the price of the game at launch at AAA levels without having the game ready to support that. They should have kept it at the $35-$40 price point and slapped a “Coming to Early Access” label on it. If they’d done that, regardless of how weak the launch version was, they would have a fallback. Now, every patch, every statement, every “we appreciate our community” forum and social media post is being scrutinised, interrogated and attacked.

The hole they’ve dug for themselves is huge. And I really can’t see them managing to crawl out of it any time soon.

Here’s Harry from Digital Treadmark with his thoughts, as a committed PMR supporter and content creator:

The Vaporlens review aggregator summarises feelings well:

Enjoyable driving mechanics and car roster.
Strong game foundation with high potential.
Unfinished, overpriced release; wait to buy.
Major performance and stability issues persist.
Weak, unrealistic force feedback experience.
Aggressive, often unaware AI behavior.

GregRedd · 11 December 2025 12:36

I was curious to see just how bad the sales / player numbers were. They are this bad:

Currently, there are long stretches with less than 25 players online, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those are developer team members. Admittedly, that doesn’t include the console numbers, but those can’t be much better than the core of sim racers on PC.

Avatar · 11 December 2025 12:50

I can’t imagine a world where you’d run out of cash just after launching your product… which tells me they launched because they were running out of cash. Since the game is borked, they didn’t get the sales income they needed to not run out of cash.

But now, who is going to fix the game?

Does not bode well.

oltman · 11 December 2025 14:50

Oof, thats sad. I had high hopes.

In a post No Mans Sky world I believe ANY studio with the commitment (and backing) can pull a rabbit out their hats. But those numbers beg to differ.