How DTM 1995 has put RaceRoom back on the map: “We won’t stop there”

GT3 cars are cool. Loosely based on relatable road-going cars, they feature big wings, slick tyres and rambunctious engines.

Consequently, the preeminent motorsport category attracts large grids the world over.

This poses a question to game developers – are you even a contemporary sim racing title without the class present? After all, iRacing, Assetto Corsa Competizione, Forza Motorsport, Gran Turismo 7, Endurance Motorsport Series et al all feature the car type.

So too does RaceRoom Racing Experience. The free-to-enter PC platform has announced two more for its roster, with the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 and McLaren 720S GT3 Evo awaiting a release date as part of a 2024-season DTM pack.

Three-year player number high

Earlier this week, it released a notable update that dramatically improved visual fidelity, alongside three classic tracks – AVUS, Fliegerhorst Diepholz and Hockenheimring Classic – and two 28-year-old touring cars.

“To be honest, we are really surprised about the reaction to the new content,” enthuses Christian Baur, Director of Strategy and Sales at RaceRoom to Traxion.

“We thought the graphic update and maybe the DTM 2024 announcement with the Lamborghini, which are nice, would be the main topic, but people have gone crazy about the DTM 1995 pack.

“This week, we had the best player peak per day in the last three years. So we see that this pack and the update are working very well. We have better player numbers and we have good sales numbers.”

The Huracán in question will mark the debut of the VAG-owned Italian supercar brand in the sim – something that users have been requesting since the platform’s 2013 inception.

Instead, harking back to a time when Forrest Gump won Best Picture has been the main talking point.

“The sales numbers of the DTM ‘95 pack are better than we expected,” continues Baur, the industry veteran who has been working at the KW Studios-developed simulation for nine months.

“We are very happy about that because we are a little bit tired of GT3. If you take a look at every sim and many championships, it’s always the same – everyone is driving GT3s.

“I think the classic DTM content is a good showcase that people are not all-in for GT3s 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Part of the appeal of these older cars is not just nostalgia. The fact that they happen to be challenging to drive, sound orgasmic and look satisfyingly boxy helps them, and the game, stand out from the crowd.

We experienced a pure gameplay video clip posted to the Traxion Facebook page of RaceRoom’s Opel Calibra driving around AVUS to be watched by tens of thousands of people.

These cars were the pinnacle of tin-top racing, the likes of which we will likely never see again. Active aero, traction control and even, for Mercedes-Benz, an active ballast system. The budgets were out of control, their real-world existence ephemeral.

Their virtual sales success has even led to RaceRoom considering historical cars for possible use within the upcoming DTM Esports season.

Further classic content expected soon

The success sounds like it will lead to a greater mix of older content alongside the new when the creation team considers its next moves, according to Baur:

“We have always had a big heart for classic or retro motorsport. If you take a look at our portfolio, older race cars are part of our history.

“This whole rollout showed that people are still keen about it and that is why we will not stop working on cars like that.

“I think that we will release something similar, but different, by the end of the year, and we are working on other licenses, not only on new cars, but for historic cars.”

“If you look at our DTM class overview, you can spot which seasons are maybe missing. As the official DTM partner, I think it should be our goal that we close these gaps…”