Project Motor Racing: “Ambition” for VR to be included at launch, PS VR2 moved off plan

• Virtual reality support remains in development for Project Motor Racing
• But as the release date nears, physics are taking priority, so VR may slip past Day 1
• PlayStation VR2 support for PS5 players now seems unlikely, in contrast to earlier remarks

When Straight4 Studios announced that it was switching from Unreal Engine to the GIANTS Engine (Farming Simulator) for its graphics, the former’s lacklustre performance in virtual reality headsets was touted as a key reason.

Speaking at Gamescom – where a newer build of the upcoming sim racing game was playable and an evocative trailer unveiled new content – the development team is keen to stress that while VR will definitely happen on PC, it’s still fine-tuning the performance ahead of a 25th November release.

Notably, VR has not yet been showcased or playable at events where the title has been showcased so far.

“The ambition is for VR to be there at launch, but if not, it’s gonna be there soon after,” said Kevin Boland, Chief Development Officer at Straight4 Studios, to Traxion.

“Our order of execution is going to get proper triple screen support first, then we’re going to look at VR, because actually, the tech leads on naturally to do VR.”

“We want VR and we will have it, but we also have a realistic timescale, and I think most people would prefer us to work on physics over the VR at this stage. We’re ambitious with the number of classes that we’re trying to do and the spread that we have.

“But, what’s really important is that when this game is launched, we’re not going to suddenly disappear, we’re going to work more and more and more with patches and updates.”

PlayStation VR2 PS5 support unlikely

That’s for those sim racing on PC – for those requesting PlayStation VR2 support, things sound less promising.

“PlayStation VR 2 support [on PS5, as opposed to the PC adaptor] is not on the slate currently,” continued Boland.

“I’d love for us to do it, but I have to be realistic with the timescales right now and what’s out there on the market. That’s not a hard no, but if we can’t deliver something that’s knock-out, we’re not going to deliver it, because I don’t want to over promise and under deliver.”