It has been revealed that Straight4 Studios’ debut racing sim, GTRevival, is set to be called a different name. Not only that, but the game will also be switching publishers, moving away from German-Austrian behemoth PLAION for an as-yet-undisclosed firm.
The information came to light at a media event at Silverstone today (18th June 2024), where several of the game’s cars were out on-track, with the Traxion team lapping up all the V12 goodness on display.
It’s not the first time the game has received a name change, first adopting the GTR Revival moniker (in reference to the GTR series of games worked on by much of Straight4’s personnel), before changing to GTRevival back in July 2023.
The new name will be revealed shortly, but for now, Straight4 is proceeding with major developmental challenges as it adapts to a new game engine. Earlier this year, CEO Ian Bell announced on Twitter/X that his team was moving away from Unreal Engine:
“A good sim needs VR in my opinion… Unreal doesn’t work for the foregoing so I’ve made a huge call and it’s an engine change. Something more amendable and flexible,” he stated on the 7th of May, referencing Unreal’s VR performance issues as the main reason for the switch. The identity of the new engine has not been revealed.
PLAION, formerly known as Koch Media and now part of the embattled Embracer Group, has undergone significant restructuring in recent times, with staff redundancies bringing it into line with the rest of a struggling games industry. It is not thought that this has anything to do with Straight4’s decision to switch publisher.
Previously, GTRevival appeared to be progressing well, with in-game screenshots showing a variety of historic GT cars and prototypes in action (including GTR 2 alumni such as the Lister Storm, Dodge Viper, Ferrari 550 and BMW M3 GTR), with tracks like Interlagos, Sebring and Lime Rock Park also confirmed for inclusion.
Modern GT3s are also set to feature, with a promising video of Straight4 employee Doug Arnao driving a Ferrari 296 GT3 around Sebring released in December 2023, well before the switch from Unreal Engine.
The game is set for release on ‘all major consoles and PC’. Initially scheduled for release in Q4 2024, the game formerly known as GTRevival has a currently undisclosed release date. Details on its new publisher and name will be announced in July.
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