New RaceRoom player peak “proves” ranked multiplayer “decision was right”

• RaceRoom is reaching new non-pandemic record player numbers throughout October
• It follows a new ranked multiplayer system launching at the end of September
• Now, according to RaceRoom’s Christian Baur, the team is more motivated than ever to deliver more
• SimRacing Expo used to build on the momentum

In late September, after a lengthy gestation period, RaceRoom Racing Experience overhauled its online multiplayer experience, with a new front-end design and updated ranking system with varied daily races.

It also helped highlight the varied car and track content available for the free-to-enter sim racing platform, with many cars and tracks unavailable for rival titles. The Super Touring and classic DTM cars are particular highlights, alongside contemporary MX-5s and LMDh machinery.

A combination of these factors has led to a new record for concurrent RaceRoom drivers, outside of the Covid-19 pandemic, and even then, it ran the all-time record (set in 2020) close according to Steam Charts data.

The trend hasn’t stopped, either, with greater player numbers throughout the month of October.

“To be honest, we are totally happy because this was our bottleneck,” said the game’s Director of Strategy and Sales, Christian Baur, to Traxion.

“You know, the ranked multiplayer was in the past not really good and the players were complaining they could not race because there was no one on the servers. So that’s why it was an important step forward for us [the new ranked multiplier].

“Now, if you take a look at the numbers, it proves what we thought. We have the same level of driver numbers as we had during the coronavirus and more. That’s the ‘pure’ record for RaceRoom and that proves that our decision [to develop multiplayer] was the right one.”

Reinvigorated development team

However, work does not stop there – sim racing is a competitive market, and with multiple competing titles and more new releases coming soon, complacency cloud spell danger.

According to Baur, speaking at the SimRacing Expo, RaceRoom is aware, and the team is motivated to build on its current momentum.

“When we had smaller issues with the new multiplayer, we fixed them all immediately or as quickly as we could.

“We’ve been receiving feedback here at the event, fans coming to the booth to say thank you for this new ranked multiplayer, ‘Now I can race when I want’, that’s why we are happy.

“It would be the right time to party a little bit, but it feels like everyone says, ‘Okay, that’s the starting point’. We see if we improve the game, it’s working, and that’s why we are completely motivated.

“Everyone says. ‘What’s next? What’s next?’ And we are working now on the strategy. No one is lying back and saying, ‘Yeah, it’s done. ’ Now we are saying ‘We have to speed up’ and that’s great.”

SimRacing Expo reinforces prospects

At the Dortmund-based sim racing gathering, RaceRoom was present with a real-world Porsche 911 GT3 car and a fleet of TrackTime motion simulators. There was a competition for the quickest show visitors, to try and beat sim-to-real driver Tim Heinemann’s times, with prizes up for grabs.

Having a popular booth wasn’t the only benefit for the KW Studio-created title, either, it transpires.

“We had a lot of people visit our stand, and for the first time we had motion sims, because for us it was important to show what RaceRoom feels like. I’m happy with the new setup, and we got a lot of great feedback from the fans.”

“But also for the business, at this SimRacing Expo we had many, many interesting meetings with old partners coming back. It seems a little bit like the industry is taking care of us again, and that’s what I would say is the final message for us – we are back in the game, let’s go and keep the momentum.”