Somewhat overshadowed by yesterday’s excitement over the Assetto Corsa Dream Pack and iRacing Season 2 build was the news that Project CARS will be delayed once more (burying the lead anyone?). This marks the third delay for the title after the original Fall 2014 release was moved to March to ‘avoid the holiday season’. But then came the news last month that the title needed more polishing and would be pushed back a few weeks to April. And now Slightly Mad Studios has gone for the trifecta and pushed the title back to mid-May (no exact date this time…). Here’s what the studio had to say about the delay.
“Despite our long heritage and pedigree in making critically-acclaimed racing games, Project CARS is by far the grandest and most intricately detailed of them all. Despite therefore the game being 99.9% complete, the remaining 0.1% attending to small issues and bugs has been tricky to anticipate. We’re absolutely dedicated to delivering a ground-breaking experience and by targeting mid-May fans can be assured that’s what they’ll receive” said Ian Bell, Head of Studio at Slightly Mad Studios.
“Again, we want to thank our fans for their support and patience on this matter. There’s a high expectancy from racing fans around the world that Project CARS is going to be an exciting new contender in the simulation racing space and we firmly believe gamers deserve it to be in its most complete and polished state when they come to play it on day one. And since the gaming community is our primary focus and has always been at the heart of the project during development, we would like to offer some free content to all players as compensation for this short delay and as acknowledgement of how grateful we are. This gift, that we’re sure is going to excite fans, will be available from day one and revealed shortly. Keep an eye on our website for more info.”
So, here we are again. What more is there to say? I believe there’s two factors going on here. First, software is difficult and massive problems can pop up out of the blue and blow up your schedule. On the other hand, the Project CARS PR effort made a big push about the title not only being out last Fall but being the best racing simulator out there. These delays are the exact opposite of that and really dampen the excitement that the title had last summer.
I will say that I’m not totally buying the ‘0.1%’ comment. For better or worse, these days games get pushed out the door when they’re 90% done…if we’re lucky (thanks DLC!). Hitting deadlines and getting some positive cash flow after years of development (i.e. loans) is critical. If Project CARS was 99.9% done, it would be out by now. The delay has to be caused by something more substantial. The lack of Xbox One footage has been pointed out as evidence that the studio is struggling to get the performance it needs to launch. Whatever the issue is, Xbox One or something else, it’s a big deal.
Fingers crossed this will be the last delay we’ll have to report on.
I just don’t see what is wrong. I have been watching “Yorkie065” and he has been posting some great videos. I don’t don’t care if they can ever release the console versions. This game better make iRacing look like a first day indie game when they release it. And I want more FREE CARS AND TRACKS Mad or you are going to see Pissed Off!
Well it’s easy to say you don’t care about the consoles if you don’t own one. I have friends on both console and PC and I plan on getting PCars for both platforms eventually (for PC first).
But I agree with the article. There’s no way in hell this is being delayed over being 0.1% incomplete. If it was even 95% complete it would be in our hands already.
But in the meantime I’ll play the other 5 sims I own.
Yeah I was Pissed Off but yeah I will probably have to buy it on PS4 for my computer illiterate friends next Fall… But for this Spring and Summer I have already bought i on PC. If it is as good as it looks and works like the say, it will all be worth it…
I agree with Tim. One delay I can understand, two pushing it but three is unacceptable.
They have taken pre-orders on the basis of a release date. They do need to compensate people that pre-ordered the title. Whether it be free DLC or something else.
I actually emailed them when I heard the news and credit to SMS they replied back quickly. My recommendation to them was to at least let PC pre-orders have access to the current build. The answer I got back was,
“Although your idea to allow PC pre-orderers early access to the game sounds like a good one, life isn’t that simple. In order to make the biggest splash possible and to maximize potential returns to our community (who invested in the game, remember), we simply have to launch all formats simultaneously. Anything less than that would dilute the game’s overall sales.”
I can kind of understand but the trouble with that viewpoint is they already have our sales and we’re left with a release date promised weeks ago.
Thank goodness for AC 1.1 being here to hold me over til May, or by then a delayed release date of June.
I’m pretty sure this is an Xbox one problem and they cant get it optimized for 60fps 1080p as we have all seen plenty of PS4 videos and no Xbox one footage . I do have the beta on my pc and I have an email from sms to say pc version is ready and my steam key will be changed to a retail key soon. my pc really is not strong enough to have all the eye candy I like so I don’t really use it.
I’d be more than happy to test it out on my system for you Craig! 😀
me too. they should sack the xbox one version. its caused too much hasle already. why should us PC gamers.and playstation 4 gamers have to wait because microsoft built a less than adequate gaming console its bullshit. microsoft wouldnt do it for playstation or pc. in fact there doing everything in there power to make as many games xbox one only as they can. like tomb raider. which is wrong.
It is a bad thing to let a console problem hold back sales of a PC product!!! It seems that consoles have priority over the PC now and it is just wrong and unfair to treat us like this. I will say one thing in SMS’s defense though. When I called the studio to talk to Andy last week I could sense the stress that they are going through just from the receptionists voice, I know Andy and the crew are working their butts off to release Project Cars and that they have a very high standard they wish to retain. Project Cars WILL be the highest standard in racing simulations and games to yet be released and I think it is therefore only right to be patient and let them get it 100% to their satisfaction before they release it. In the end they are doing this FOR us to ensure we are ALL happy and completely satisfied with an amazing simulation. As you know Darin, I have had to delay releasing my motorcycle systems for the last 5 years!!! I did not want a a system that was only 95% satisfactory for myself tothen be the same for customers so I fully understand SMS for acting as they are. I think they have made the right decision in the end. I just cant wait anymore too lol.
thankyou @doubledragonccc it seems there is someone on this thread that also knows whats going on in console world and pc. the xbox fans are delerious.
Slightly Mad are probably baffled at how Forza 5 runs at 1080p@60fps on the Xbox One and looks so good. I know I am…because everything else on nextgen consoles looks pretty average – especially multi-platform titles.
Yeah I see some pretty great images, for a console, on Forza. I have never heard a solid answer why that is so good and the other racing games are not as good. I don’t have one nor will I buy one since I went with a Thrustmaster T500 for a wheel, but I am curious.
Forza 5 is not a good looking title.
I notice you didn’t name one though.
well why dont they let us have it on pc. am sure the pc version is perfect. after playing the build. from ages ago build 834. i was very impressed and i can only assume the underpowered. xboxone is the machine causing all these issues. AGAIN.
just dont lower quality for the pc. if you have to do it on xbox one. who cares about xbox anyway. after the 360 fiesco am really surprissed anybody bought an xbox. again. no thankyou. let us have it on pc pls. before we end up in ww3 and never get to see it. that would really suck,
remember sloppy ubisoft lowering quality for that god damn xbox and watchdogs nightmare.all for god damn xbox. arrrrrrrrrghh.they also lowered quality on pc. cause they didnt want to show the xbox up. oh dear. welll tehy should have built a better system. instead of letting poor people build them in some backward country where there trying to commit suicide out of the windows cause they dont get paid enough. microsoft may as well be a slave camp. it kinda is anyway. i will never touch an xbox ever. no thx. so glad sony didnt follow the draconian rules they wanted to put in place for playing your own god damn games. not being able to share with a friend or being chained to the internet. for an hours playtime. what is the world coming to. stop kissing microsofts but; they wouldnt help anyone out there customer support is a joke. give us our PC games pls. screw the xbox. stop holding microsoft under your wings. they would tred all over yours.
erm… xbox dosnt have to be connected online ? you can also share your games and if you buy digital you can also share that with a friend to… you might want to get your facts right before you make yourself look like even more of a D**K… To be honest its prob ps4 holding things up with there rate of cr@p games
damien. how can playstation hold anything up because they dont have games out. whats that got to do with xbox one games. look at whats available today. bloodbourne. and much more high quality games. ive just ordered an xbox one. but am not fooled. i just got it for forza games and halo. but am not going to kid around which is better. i know which is better. PC. and PS4
Your comment is a joke. Forza 5 and Horizon 2 are the best looking racing games today with far better graphics than pCars. Driveclub isn´t doing more than 30 fps on the PS4 and had far more framerate problems in AC:Unity than the XBox One with the same resolution, because this game has to many NPCs for the PS4 CPU. In racing games we call this AI.
Compare to a strong PC they have both not enough CPU-capacity for a full simracing title and “free” pCars-build is on my PC (i5 4690, GFX 770) by far the most CPU-demanding game without even proper car physics.
watchdogs was lowered quality wise on pc. files was found hidden inside the game. they did that so it didnt show up the xbox one version. because you all expected pc quality graphics that the xbox can not acheive. best thing about xboxone is using it as a remote control to chance tv channels with you voice. so its a great remote control for £400
you say forza looks good forza 2 horizons. which also looks good on xbox 360. you havnt experience much have you. horizon 2 and forza 5.
leynard. your dreaming. forza 5 is old and garbage. it was no where near as good as forza 4. horizons is out on xbox 36o also. you should see project cars on PC. then you would wake up. driveclub is 60fps. and looks very impressive. its one of the best modelled racing games ive ever seen. not cartoon show like forza. PS4 has never had any issues like the xbox has. xbox one games wont even put resolution on the games. so you all think your getting 1080p games. when in fact your getting just over 720p games. why hide it from the box. ? your in a fantasy mate. you havnt got a clue.
DRIVECLUB HAD NETWORK ISSUES NOT FRAMERATE ISSUES MORON
Any chance of a new preview Darin? Would be good to hear your thoughts on the more recent builds.
SACK THE XBOX ONE VERSION PC GAMERS AND PS4 GAMERS SHOULDNT HAVE TO WAIT ON THAT BETAMAX VOICE REMOTE CONTROLLER FOR CHANGING YOUR TV CHANNELS.