F1 23 update re-balances F1 World

Live today, 7th August 2023, there’s been a host of smaller changes alongside the F1 World mode-specific changes.

These include equal performance when using the game for LAN events, the removal of being able to take control of your car in the pitlane (following a flashback) and being disqualified for an online multiplayer race if you happen to be thrown out of the warmup lap.

During our playthrough of the new-for-F1 23 F1 World mode (where you build a car’s Tech Level by unlocking, saving and spending resources earnt through event completion) we found it too easy to earn an overall car rating that far exceeded the event difficulty. For the most part, we lead every race and felt it lacked a true challenge – and no, we’re not Jarno Opmeer.

The changes are twofold, according to a post on Electronic Art’s support pages:

• Solo events that previously matched your Tech Level (including Grand Prix mode) will be a level below your current rating
• Expanded use of the Tech Level ‘modifier’ is now available on all solo events that use Tech Level.

In other words, generally speaking, most events will actually be easier – the opposite of what we’d expect – but you can now boost up the level of solo events if you find them too much of a breeze. Should you do that and still succeed, greater rewards will be dished out.

It’s worth noting, however, this does not apply to the series events, as the difficulty modifier option is not available there, just the solo events. If playing a solo event, just before you hit the track, select ‘difficulty’ and then ‘Tech Level Modifier’. You can see in our example below, we’ve upped the Tech Level of the event by 117, and the range of tweaking is said to have been enlarged.

If you’ve skipped by some of the entry-level solo events, these will now scale with your car’s level, so there in theory should never be an event with a greater tech level difference of 50.

The EA Racenet companion league service has also recently added some features, namely On-Demand Leagues, AI in lobbies, AI in standings and additional search filters.

When we spoke to F1 23’s game lead, Lee Mather, he recently explained that F1 World is the beginning of a new journey and is expected to evolve over time.

“It’s really in its absolute infancy at the moment,” said Mather

“We’re still going to continue to expand upon it with new gameplay.”

The full changelog for the patch is listed below.

F1 23 version 1.09 game update changelog

• Fixed an issue where players could take control of their car in the pitlane after using flashback when exiting the pits
• Fixed an issue where, in some instances, players could get disqualified from the race in multiplayer when being disqualified from the formation lap
• Fixed an issue where looking around while in the cockpit was reduced
• Fixed an issue where drivers would have incorrect helmets after changing team in Career modes
• Fixed an issue where Casper Akkermann, Devon Butler and Jamie Chadwick had incorrect helmets when chosen as a teammate in Grand Prix
• Fixed an issue where gamertags would sometimes show in unexpected areas
• Fixed an issue where equal performance was always enabled in LAN modes
• Fixed an issue where, in some instances, race sessions would not load with UDP telemetry connected
• General Stability Improvements
• Various Minor Fixes
• All F1® World events that previously matched the player’s Tech Level have been adjusted to match to a slightly lower Tech Level
• F1® World Tech Level ‘Modifier’ setting can now be applied to all Solo events that use Tech Level, allowing optional difficulty increases
• The F1® World Tech Level ‘Modifier’ setting has been updated to allow any value from zero to +150 (previously -100 to +100)
• Lower Tech Level events in F1® World will now scale as player Tech Level increases
• a number of changes were made to the EA Racenet recently, improving League functionality in F1® 23. These changes included the addition of On-Demand Leagues, AI in lobbies, AI in standings, and improved filtering on search.

Source: EA